Whale Transfers $113M Worth of ETH to Exchanges, Sparking Sell-Off Concerns

• Transfer of $112 million worth of Ethereum to Coinbase and Kraken raises concerns about potential selling pressure.
• Anonymous wallet moved 22,157 ETH worth $34.5 million to Coinbase, followed by 50,000 ETH valued at $78.3 million deposited in Kraken.
• Massive ETH flows to liquid exchanges have alarmed analysts as they often precede major liquidations.

The transfer of over $112 million worth of Ethereum to major exchanges Coinbase and Kraken recently has raised concerns about potential selling pressure.

According to Whale Alert, one anonymous wallet moved 22,157 ETH worth $34.5 million to Coinbase. Soon after, 50,000 ETH valued at $78.3 million was deposited to Kraken from a separate wallet.

The massive flows of ETH to liquid exchanges have sounded alarms among analysts. Such large cryptocurrency deposits often precede major liquidations.

Ethereum balances on exchanges have also declined to multi-year lows due to staking. With limited sell-side liquidity, the sudden influx of ETH raises the risk of slippage if the entities dump their holdings.

However, the motivations behind over-the-counter deals remain ambiguous. The wallets could simply be rearranging funds for other reasons.

For now, it remains unknown if actual liquidations are coming or if this is just precautionary positioning. However, the potential selling power has the market on alert for increased volatility if the transfers forewarn bearish intent.

In a recent bullish prediction, Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick forecasted Ethereum reaching $8,000 in the near term as a “stepping stone” toward $26,000–$35,000 long-term, citing growing adoption for smart contracts and other applications. ETH has seen parabolic gains after previous bear markets, surging 14,000% in early 2018.

In January 2017, the price of ETH was approximately $10. By January 2018, it had significantly increased to $1,450, representing a remarkable gain of more than 14,000%. However, in December 2018, it experienced a substantial drop to a bear market low of $85. At press time, ETH is hovering around $1,500 as the whole market fails to sustain a bullish trend.