Ethereum is still struggling to reach its March highs of $4,000, let alone its November 2021 all-time high of $4,891.
On-chain movement in Ethereum and its decentralized finance sector remained strong, while leading altcoins saw large price swings amid market turmoil.
ETH briefly hit a four-month high of $3,444 on Tuesday, November 12. After the price declined from the local high, the king of altcoins has been consolidating between $3,120 and $3,290 for the past two days.
While Ethereum is still down 34% from its all-time high, its fundamentals remain strong.
ETF Inflows
U.S. spot ETH exchange-traded funds have seen continued inflows since last week’s U.S. election.
Investment products saw a record $295.5 million in net inflows at the start of the week, led by Fidelity’s FETH fund and BlackRock’s ETHA fund, which saw net inflows of $115.5 million and $101.1 million, respectively.
On Wednesday, the spot ETH ETF saw net inflows of $146.9 million, bringing total inflows to $241.7 million.
This is the first time these ETH-based investment products have seen strong demand since their launch in July.
Whale pile up
Ethereum’s whale accumulation has also been increasing due to the greed of market participants.
According to data provided by IntoTheBlock, large holders saw net inflows of more than 97,000 ETH yesterday, worth approximately $310 million.
Whale accumulation often triggers fear of missing out among retail investors. This often leads to large price swings before a steady upward momentum builds.
Foreign exchange outflow
In addition to whales, retail investors are also busy accumulating Ethereum.
ITB data shows that the net outflow of ETH exchanges in the past week reached $1.12 billion. The high ratio of net outflows from holders to exchanges indicates that retail buying was strong on November 9, 11, and 12.
Foreign exchange outflows usually lead to long-term holdings, which will eventually pave the way for stable growth.
DeFi Growth
Ethereum’s DeFi sector has also been surging.
The cryptocurrency market gained bullish momentum after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, with the total value locked in Ethereum-based protocols increasing by about $10 billion, according to data provided by Defi Llama.
Additionally, the total fees collected by DeFi platforms on the Ethereum network have tripled to $18 million in the past seven days. These protocols generated a total revenue of $15.5 million in the past day.
$4,000 by 2025?
Market analysis firm Amberdata claims that there is an 18% chance that Ethereum will reach the $4,000 mark by the end of the year.
“We’re still a long way from our all-time highs in ETH. That makes us feel like we may have some upside left.”
Amberdata wrote in the X post.
Strong growth in the ETH ETF and an increase in the number of whales could strengthen the positive momentum for Ethereum’s price.
However, it is worth noting that despite the bullish on-chain signals, macro events could shift the market focus in another direction.
