Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency that powers the smart-contract-enabled Ethereum blockchain, has been under strong selling pressure in the last three days.
ETH/USD was last trading around $1,830, down over 2.0% on Monday and down more than 9% from last week’s highs to the north of the $2,000 level.
Two days ago, the Ethereum Foundation responsible for the blockchain’s development transferred $30 million to cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
This appears to have triggered some jitters in the market, exacerbating selling pressure that has also been seen across other major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, a recent spike in gas fees as a result of a surge in meme coin trading (mostly focused around Pepe) may also be weighing on sentiment, as it highlights the scalability challenges the blockchain still faces.
Traders were quick to note that prior major Ethereum Foundation sales of ETH have coincided with near-term market tops, such as the foundation’s sale of 35,053 ETH in May 2021 (a local top) and then of a further 20,000 ETH in November 2021, which proceeded 2022’s aggressive bear market drawdown.
However, prior large Ethereum Foundation sales, such as in June 2019, December 2020 and March 2021, did not proceed big price drawdowns.
Indeed, after the December 2020 and March 2021 sales, the Foundation probably would have been kicking itself that it did wait just a little longer, as shortly after these sales the ETH price experienced an exponential upside.
For now, according to options markets, investors seem sanguine on Ether volatility risks.
Dominant cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit’s ETH Volatility Index recent hit a record low of 51 on Saturday and remained at suppressed levels on Monday around 53.
With Ether back
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