The Ethereum (ETH) Merge was expected to be the most bullish event to revive the sluggish crypto market. However, this was not the case.
Before the merge, the crypto market showed some signs of recovery, but now the market has nosedived, pushing millions of liquidations.
In addition, the FED rate hike has also played a major role in sinking the sailing ship of the Crypto market. Major cryptocurrencies slashed their gains and followed the bearish momentum.
ETH Whales Remain Disappointed
The ETH price took a major hit following the successful merge, declining by more than 18% in a week. At the time of writing, ETH is priced at $1,293, down by 4%, with a market cap of $158B
Depending on this price action, many ETH whales started to redistribute their holdings on the market rapidly. This could be another primary reason for large selling pressure pushing ETH’s price to the July level.
According to Santiment, whales holding between 1,000 – 10,000 ETH have dropped 2.24% of their cumulative holdings. Despite ETH holding the largest liquidity, market makers could not stop the massive sell-off that triggered the price to decline further.
It is also believed that the “sell the news” narrative appeared on the market weeks before the Merge date. However, before the update, the sentiment flipped to “buy the news” for undisclosed reasons.
Whales Flock to XRP
While some altcoins have registered single percentage digit weekly losses in the ongoing bearish market, ETH is down by more than 20%. Notably, one altcoin that is trading against the tide is Ripple’s XRP.
XRP price movements have caught the eyes of whales and, therefore, over the last week, a strong buying pressure has been seen in XRP, which has shot up by 20% on the weekly charts
According to WhaleAlert, over 261 million XRP coins were moved by whales between wallets on various top exchanges the previous day.
XRP Price Analysis
The XRP price is up by 28% in the last 7 days, outpacing Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are currently down 5% and 18%, respectively. Currently, XRP is changing hands at $0.42, up 7% in the last 24 hours.
This price spike can be mainly attributed to trader optimism and positive whale movement.
Amid positive developments in the ongoing Ripple lawsuit, Trader’s optimism has increased. In addition, recently, Caroline D. Pham, an American attorney serving as a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), visited Ripple Labs.
This visit is believed to be a positive as many XRP supporters claim that the CFTC might take over as the currency’s regulator, classifying XRP as a commodity.
Disclaimer: The author’s comments and recommendations are solely for educational and informative purposes. They do not represent any financial or investment advice. Always DYOR (do your own research)
