Ethereum [ETH]: ‘Self-custodians’ may be out of their shells, but investors unfazed

• Months after the Merge, ETH records its largest exchange inflow.
• Investors are not excited about the current condition of the altcoin.

Since Ethereum’s [ETH] switched to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), many holders have opted to be guardians of their assets. This resolve has, in turn, affected the overall supply on exchanges. However, in an interesting twist, the largest daily ETH inflow since the transition happened on 1 May, Santiment revealed.

🐳 With a $505M transfer of #Ethereum tokens on to #Binance today, this is one of the largest self custody to exchange transfers in 5 years. It also spiked the $ETH network to its largest daily exchange supply increase since the day before the #merge. https://t.co/FTFNugMg16 https://t.co/FMfHl3V3zB pic.twitter.com/HAmtunceln

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) May 1, 2023

How much are 1,10,100 ETHs worth today?

Changing manners in the new month

The concept of “self-custody” has been gaining momentum in the cryptocurrency space, with many users preferring to hold their assets in their own wallets rather than on Centralized Exchanges (CEXes). 

And an undeniable reason for this increasing action is the way a number of hedge funds and exchanges collapsed in the last year. ETH has not been an exception to this trend. But the recent transfer could suggest other intentions of investors. Sometimes, large inflows into exchanges indicate the potential to let go of assets.

Therefore, this has led to speculation about whether this trend could affect the price of ETH, as an increase in ETH holdings on exchanges could indicate an increase in selling pressure.

At press time, the exchange inflow had decreased to 12,300. And on the whole, the exchange outflow had also fallen to 117,000. A minute difference like this suggests that investors closely differed in long-term holding sentiment or the bid to sell.

Source: Santiment

For the supply outside of exchanges, on-chain data revealed that it was 109.4 million. This drive from the upward trend indicates that holding for an extended period was not the priority for the average ETH investor in recent times.

Meanwhile, the weighted sentiment of the altcoin was -0.691 at the time of writing. When this metric spikes, it means that the vast majority of messages around the asset are positive. 

But when it dips, it suggests that the perception around it is gloom-ridden. Thus, the negative value infers that the average viewpoint around ETH was more defeatist than optimistic.

Source: Santiment

ETH has been left in the dirt

So, how has ETH fared? Well, CoinMarketCap showed that the coin exchanged hands at $1,828. This depicted a 0.19% decrease in the last seven days and a similar state over the past month. 

Is your portfolio green? Check the Ethereum Profit Calculator

On assessing the daily on-chain transaction volume in profit to the one in loss, Santiment showed that the latter had outpaced the former. At the time of writing, the volume in profit was 429,000. 

On the other hand, the transaction volume in loss was 1.72 million. Therefore, this was a testament to the manner in which ETH had cooled off in terms of gains.

Source: Santiment

In another development, Carl Runefelt tweeted that ETH could shrink further. The crypto investor and trader backed his case by indicating the state of the head and shoulder formation. 

This pattern is a set of troughs and crests, aimed at predicting a bullish to bearish trend reversal. According to Runefelt, ETH could reach $1,570 in a short period of time.

CHART: #Ethereum Head & Shoulders Pattern. pic.twitter.com/59aOspi7gv

— Carl From The Moon (@TheMoonCarl) May 1, 2023