After the news of the staked Ethereum (ETH) withdrawals, the ETH price remained steady and the bulls defended the $1,200 support zone territory. Data from the crypto data analytics firm showed that Ethereum whales and sharks are beginning to accumulate back toward pre-Merge levels.
Ethereum Price Remains Steady
The news about the Ethereum network’s ability to process staked withdrawals has contributed to the price of ETH. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been relatively stable and mostly traded above $1,200 over the past week.
Although FTX’s collapse last month shot a painful thorn into its side, ETH held steady above the $1,200 level and traded at $1,244.66 as of this writing with a volume of $4.1 billion in the past 24 hours. It could start a fresh increase and momentum if it breaks through the $1,300 resistance level.
Ethereum Shark & Whale Activity
🐳 Whales and sharks are adding more #Ethereum while prices fluctuate around $1,230. The key shark and whale addresses (holding 100 to 1m $ETH) own two thirds of the coin's overall supply, adding 2.1% more collective coins to their bags in the past month. https://t.co/BqEAkyWvxI pic.twitter.com/tHrVitHzIj
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) December 7, 2022
According to data provided by the crypto data analytics firm Santiment, Ethereum whales and sharks are beginning to accumulate back toward pre-Merge levels. A number of Ethereum addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 Ether have accumulated more than 1.36% of the total supply (about 1.63 million Ether). Consequently, data from the market intelligence platform revealed that this group of investors added 561,000 Ether worth about $690 million between December 5th and 6th. Their overall holdings of Ethereum increased by 2.09% compared to the previous figures they had in their bags.
When whales make large-scale moves, they can significantly affect the market. This group owns two-thirds or over 65% of Ether’s overall supply, and they have been helping to reduce pressure from traders exiting positions at the best available bounces during the cryptocurrency bear market. Given the recent spike in interest in Ethereum’s large addresses, Santiment considers this metric as a bullish sign.
Ethereum’s Shanghai Hard Fork Upgrade
The Ethereum Shanghai hard fork will be expected to take place in March 2023 and will allow staked Beacon Chain ether (ETH) to be withdrawn. Lead developer of Ethereum, Tim Beiko, said that enabling staking withdrawal is the highest priority. The Shanghai upgrade is a milestone toward scalability upgrade which would speed up the network’s transaction processing.
.@TimBeiko's summary in Eth R&D Discord of #AllCoreDevs call pic.twitter.com/RU4I2zdXKd
— abcoathup.eth 🦇🔊🦆🌱 (@abcoathup) December 9, 2022
In a Twitter thread from Tim Beiko, he revealed that the Shanghai upgrade and the “EVM Object Format” (EOF) implementation were discussed by the developers. In January 2023, developers will decide whether the Shanghai upgrade should include another significant improvement or focus on withdrawals only.
