Vitalik Buterin Sends 15 Million USDC to Gemini as Ethereum Faces a Crucial Test

Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Sends 15 Million USDC to Gemini

Blockchain investigators have discovered a transfer of USDC worth $14.9 million from a wallet linked to Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum. The transfer was made to the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.

According to a post on October 17 by the blockchain analysis company PeckShield on Twitter, Buterin’s wallet, “vitalik.eth,” transferred $14.93 million to Gemini on October 16.

#PeckShieldAlert #vitalik.eth haas transferred ~15M $USDC (Multisig Contract 0xf207…D5a3) to #Gemini pic.twitter.com/6FZGKLKg9Z

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) October 17, 2023

Buterin initially received the $14.93 million USDC from Kanro, a charitable organization linked to Buterin, on October 14.

Separate analysis from cryptocurrency data provider Lookonchain indicates that Buterin also transferred nearly $500,000 to Coinbase three days prior.

vitalik.eth received 14.93M $USDC from #Kanro 4 days ago and then deposited it into #Gemini yesterday before the first surge of $BTC.#Vitalik also deposited 500K $USDC into #Coinbase 2 days ago.

What did he do with the $USDC?https://t.co/o3u5JjjapUhttps://t.co/Z69WG0xuNP pic.twitter.com/dwTt7tzHp8

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 17, 2023

The price of Ethereum’s native coin, Ether, has remained stable after the news of the transfer, decreasing by only 0.68% over the past four hours, according to CoinGecko price data.

Buterin’s recent transaction is part of a series of ETH deposits to centralized exchanges in recent months, totaling over $3.9 million from Buterin’s wallet in September.

On September 24, Buterin transferred 400 ETH, valued at $600,000 at the time, to Coinbase. Cointelegraph had previously reported a $1 million ETH transaction from the address Vitalik.eth on August 21, which was also confirmed by on-chain monitoring platforms.

Ethereum’s price chart

Ethereum’s price is currently consolidating near $1,575, with a key upward trendline forming near $1,572 on the hourly ETH/USD chart.

On the upside, the price is facing resistance near $1,605, with the first major resistance near the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from the swing high of $1,669 to the low of $1,574 at $1,620.

A successful close above the $1,620 resistance could initiate a significant upward price movement. In such a scenario, Ether may rise and recover towards the $1,665 resistance, with further gains potentially leading to the $1,750 level.

>>> Standard Chartered Forecasts Ethereum Price Could Reach $35,000

In the event that Ethereum fails to surpass the $1,605 resistance, it could begin another decline. Initial support to the downside is near $1,575 and the 100-hour Simple Moving Average.

The next significant support is at $1,550. Breaking below the support at $1,550 could potentially push the price lower. In such a case, the price may decline to the $1,520 level, and any further losses could potentially push ETH towards $1,440.

Technical Indicators:

Hourly MACD: The MACD for ETH/USD is losing momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI: The RSI for ETH/USD is currently above the 50 level.

Key Support Level: $1,575

Key Resistance Level: $1,620