How Rising Whale Holdings, Octane Upgrade Impact Avax Price

Avalanche’s native coin AVAX’s price recently formed a double bottom but is it a sign that it could be headed for more upside?

Recent data signals that whale activity around the cryptocurrency was on the rise. AVAX had a $19.69 price at press time which represented a 32.95% upside from its lowest price point so far this month.

According to IntoTheBlock data, whales have been accumulating AVAX over the last few weeks.

Historical concentration data revealed that whales held 26.53 million AVAX at the start of January.

That figure has since grown to 38.47 million AVAX as of 19 April. The difference means whales added roughly $231.5 million worth of AVAX at present value.

The resurgence of whale activity offered reassurance that AVAX was still an appealing coin.

It may have also contributed to the latest uptick and also shielding the price from more downside.

This recent surge in whale activity may have been a reaction to the latest Avalanche upgrade, dubbed Octane.

The upgrade reportedly lowered transaction fees by more than 30%, and swapping fees by 97%.

On-Chain data also revealed that short term traders acquired a significant amount of AVAX and have been taking profits since then, as evident by their declining balances.

On the other hand, HODLer and cruiser balances have been rising since then, which may explain why AVAX price did not experience a massive pullback after its latest rally.

AVAX Crypto Sell Pressure Cools Down But Will It Pave Way for More Upside?

AVAX crypto spot flows suggest that the bears have been pulling back. Spot inflows were as high as $10.63 million as of 6 April, but that figure dropped to $1.4 million on 18 April.

The declining spot flows were also accompanied by a significant uptick in open interest. The latter was up from $297.44 million on 12 April to $423.55 million as of 20 April.

Spot flows were also back on the positive side, suggesting that investor sentiment was back in favor of the bulls.

Although the declining sell pressure paved the way for some accumulation and consequently some upside, demand remained limited.

Perhaps because investors remained on the side of caution. Nevertheless, whale demand suggests that there was optimism about AVAX price prospects moving forward.

The cryptocurrency’s MFI confirmed that positive liquidity flow was flowing back in to AVAX price through its latest spike since 7 April.

While liquidity flows have been positive, price movement was rather limited last week. However, the key takeaway was that profit-taking was limited.

Avalanche TVL Holds on Above $1 Billion While DEX Volumes Cool Down

Total value locked is often a decent measure of market confidence in a coin. Avalanche TVL managed to stay above $1 billion despite its decline from its December peak above $1.64 billion.

However, it was still nowhere near its historic top during which TVL surged as high as $13.9 billion in 2021.

Avalanche also saw a significant surge in DEX volumes in Q4 2024. DEX volumes surged over $662 million, underscoring the extent to which it managed to take advantage of opportunities in the DeFi segment.

DEX volumes have since cooled down in line with the bearish conditions in the market. It was down to around $84.38 million.

Daily transactions and stablecoin marketcap also hovered at significantly lower levels compared to their December and January levels.

Stablecoin marketcap peaked at $2.43 billion in December and was down to $1.73 billion as of 19 April.

The latter’s transactions clocked in at 211,230 TXs, which is also a significant cool down from over 586,000 transactions recorded on 8 December.

The above Avalanche metrics highlight the impact of the bearish market conditions over the last 4 months. They also confirmed that network activity maintained healthy levels.