Market makers’ Ether selling patterns have significantly contributed to the current crypto market decline.
Five of the top market makers have sold a total of 130,000 Ether (ETH) worth $290 million at today’s price, since Aug. 3, while Ether price crashed from $3,000 to below $2,200.
The market makers include Wintermute, which sold over 47,000 Ether, followed by Jump Trading with over 36,000 ETH, and Flow Traders, with $3,620 ETH, in third place.
GSR Markets also sold 292 ETH, while Amber Groupd sold 65 Ether, according to a research note by 0xScope, shared with Cointelegraph.
While Jump Trading was the first to start selling, Wintermute sold significantly more Ether, noted 0xScope, in an Aug. 5 X post:
“Jump Trading started dumping $ETH this past weekend, ahead of other major market makers, despite low liquidity.”
Ether is currently struggling to remain above the $2,200 psychological mark. More Ether selling from market makers and large holders could lead to lower prices and more panic selling among investors.
Related: Analysts warn of further Bitcoin downside — Could BTC revisit $42K?
Ether price struggles to remain above $2.2k
Ether’s price fell over 22.3% during the 24 hours leading up to 1:10 p.m. in UTC, to trade at $2,233, according to Cointelegraph data.
Ether price briefly wicked to the daily low of $2,195 around 6:30 a.m. in UTC, before recovering above the $2,200 mark.
On the positive side, Ether price could double from the current low, if it follows the same patterns from two years ago, according to pseudonymous crypto trader MarketWizard, who wrote in an Aug. 5 X post:
“Despite how scary things are right now, ETH is at the sweet spot. Retesting the 2-year base that caused an x2 earlier this year.”
Related: Bitcoin price downside may last 2 months — Analysis
What about US spot Ether ETFs?
The sharp decline in Ether’s price comes despite the launch of the first spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States, which debuted for trading on July 23.
However, Ether ETF inflows remain low, despite the historic launch.
Since launch, the US Ether ETFs recorded over $511 million worth of cumulative net outflows, according to Farside Investors data.
Grayscale’s Ether ETF (ETHE) accounted for the majority of the outflows, worth over $2.1 billion, while the other ETF issuers have all logged net positive inflows.
While Ether ETFs mark a significant regulatory development, ETH ETFs may only be a ‘sidekick’ to Bitcoin ETFs in terms of inflows, Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, told Cointelegraph:
“Bitcoin is like enough crypto hot sauce. You’re like, ‘You know, I’m good.’ These things move together anyway. Ethereum is harder to explain, but I’m just seeing it being a sidekick [to Bitcoin].”
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