Ethereum drops below $4k as selling pressure mounts: More pain ahead?

Key Takeaways

Why are sharks dominating Ethereum accumulation now?

Sharks holding 10k-100k ETH are aggressively buying as whales exit spot markets, causing a surge in wealth concentration and network inequality.

What does this mean for Ethereum’s price outlook?

If shark demand strengthens and aligns with whale Futures activity, ETH could rebound toward $4,390, but failure to hold $4k risks a drop to $3,886.

Ethereum [ETH] has declined for seven consecutive days, breaching $4k, and briefly touching $3.9k before rebounding. At press time, Ethereum was trading at $4005, marking a 4.08% decline over the past 24 hours. 

Amid this price breakdown, investors, especially sharks, have taken the opportunity to accumulate aggressively. 

Sharks displace Ethereum whales

Interestingly, with ETH facing intense downward pressure, the market has witnessed a dramatic shift in power dynamics. 

According to Alphractal’s founder, Joao Wedson, the number of Ethereum whales has dropped massively, with sharks taking over. 

Source: Alphractal

As such, addresses holding 10k-100k ETH have turned to aggressive accumulation and now take a chunk of the market share. 

At the same time, the Gini Coefficient has started to rise, suggesting that ETH is becoming more concentrated in wealthier addresses, especially sharks.

With sharks accumulating at higher rates than smaller holders, it has resulted in a massive spike in network inequality. 

Source: Alphractal

In fact, AMBCrypto analysis of Nansen uncovered such purchases over the past day. On the 25th of September, a shark wallet ‘medium uniswap’ bought 21.59k ETH worth $87.43 million. 

Source: Nansen

This implies that investors actively engaged with ETH at the moment are mid-sized entities and players with medium-level capital. 

On top of that, exchange activities further echoed this accumulation trend.

According to CryptoQuant data, Ethereum has recorded a Negative Exchange Netflow for two consecutive days, recording a positive value once every eight days.

Source: CryptoQuant

At press time, Netflow was -49k ETH, a drop from -118k the previous day, a clear sign of aggressive accumulation. Often, increased accumulation has resulted in a positive impact on an asset price trajectory.

Whales jump into Futures 

While sharks accumulated aggressively, Ethereum whales were not sitting idle, but were rather actively participating in the Futures market. 

According to CryptoQuant data, the Futures Average Order Size has signaled a whale comeback into the Futures market. 

Source: CryptoQuant

Whales had taken a step back from the Futures, but after 27 days, the altcoin recorded Big Whale Orders for three consecutive days. 

As a result, Ethereum’s Perpetuals Volume surged to $584 million, holding within a monthly high reflecting increased participation. 

Source: Defillama

When these two metrics rise in tandem, it suggests that whales are currently driving Futures, either through shorts or longs.

Any impact on ETH?

Surprisingly, despite increased shark accumulation, it has yet to have a positive impact on Ethereum’s price movement. As such, ETH still experiencing intense downward pressure from other market players at press time.

However, if the market finally feels shark accumulation activity, it could boost ETH towards recovery. Thus, any upside pressure will boost the king of altcoins to reclaim $4390.

Conversely, if the prevailing market conditions persist, ETH risks a dip below $4k again, with support around $3886.