Whale Transfers Large Amount of Ethereum as ETF Nears

A notable Ethereum whale activity was observed when 16,449 ETH, valued at approximately $50.3 million, was withdrawn from Binance. This significant transaction occurred as Ethereum’s price rebounded above $3,000.

Spot On Chain, an on-chain data provider, highlighted that this whale activity marks their first substantial Ether accumulation and has garnered considerable attention. The entire amount was transferred to a new wallet and remains there.

Timing of the Withdrawal

The timing of this withdrawal is particularly noteworthy as it coincides with the anticipated launch of Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) next week. In a post on the social platform X, Spot On Chain questioned whether this large-scale transfer could be a bullish signal for Ethereum.

7 hours ago, a whale/institution withdrew 16,449 $ETH ($50.3M) from #Binance as the #Ethereum price rebounded to above $3,000.

This is the whale’s first large $ETH accumulation. So far, it has moved all $ETH to a new wallet and held them there.

Note that the ETH ETF is likely… pic.twitter.com/BBHOvWM3yx

— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) July 10, 2024

The ETF launch is expected to boost institutional interest and investment in Ethereum, potentially driving the price higher. The recent whale activity and the upcoming ETF launch indicate a period of heightened interest and potential volatility for Ethereum.

According to the market report, Ether’s price surged by 10.11%, reaching $3,113 on July 9, up from a low of around $2,830 the previous day. This ETH/USD price increase coincided with CoinShares’ weekly report, which revealed that Ether-linked investment funds received $10.2 million in inflows during the week ending July 5.

Ether ETF Registration Updates

However, a few days after these inflows, asset management firms VanEck and 21Shares amended their S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval in July to list and trade shares of a spot Ether ETF. Additionally, 21Shares submitted an updated form for its Core Ethereum ETF. Although none of the filings provided an exact launch date for U.S. exchanges, both firms stated that the ETFs would be launched “as soon as practicable” following the registration’s effective date.

Meanwhile, competition among ETF sponsors has intensified ahead of the anticipated launch of spot Ether funds later this month. On July 9, Invesco and Galaxy set a management fee of 0.25% for the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF in their filing with U.S. regulators.

The SEC approved spot Ether ETFs in the country in May. However, investors withdrew $61 million from Ether investment products between June 24 and June 29, bringing the total outflows by the end of the month to $119 million and resulting in a net outflow of $37 million for June.