The Incredible Appetite of Ethereum Whales
On June 15th, Ethereum wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH increased their position by more than 818,410 ETH (approximately $2.5 billion). This is the largest daily inflow for this cohort in over six years. These addresses are often associated with funds, early adopters, and institutional investors. They collectively held over 16 million ETH on that day, up from 11.87 million a year ago.
This massive accumulation coincides with an increase in institutional demand through Ether-focused investment funds. In fact, these funds attracted $583 million in the week ending June 13th, bringing the year-to-date net inflows to $2.28 billion.
Is the 2017 Scenario Repeating Itself?
The price of Ether has risen by 90% in the past two months, driven by optimism surrounding Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade and the restructuring of its foundation’s leadership. Despite these advancements, the cryptocurrency remains range-bound in a multi-month consolidation phase.
According to analyst Milkybull Crypto, this price dynamic closely resembles what was observed after a surge in prices in 2017. Back then, ETH was trading between $10 and $20 following the DAO hack and the Ethereum Classic split. However, once that range was broken, ETH surged to over $1,500 in less than a year, driven by the ICO boom.
Today, ETH is consolidating between $2,150 and $3,600, while remaining above the key technical support of the 50 and 200-week exponential moving averages. Although the drivers of its growth are different (ETFs, staking, tokenization), the technical pattern is similar: Ether is consolidating under a resistance, similar to before its last major bullish breakout.
Short-Term Price Target for ETH
This consolidation phase followed by a strong upswing could lead ETH towards a short-term price target of around $4,000, the upper end of the current range. Several analysts have also identified this level as a potential target for Ethereum in the near future.
Milkybull Crypto goes even further, suggesting that an ETH price of $10,000 “cannot be ruled out.” The accumulation trend of whales and the resilience of the Ethereum network seem to set the stage for a new upward phase for the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.
