BlackRock plans bitcoin exchange-traded product for European market: report

Ethereum has made a recovery to $2,800 during the past day as on-chain data shows the whales have been making massive withdrawals from exchanges.

Ethereum Exchange Outflows Spiked After Price Crash

According to data from the market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock, investors reacted to the latest crash in the Ethereum price by making outflows from exchanges.

The on-chain indicator of relevance here is the “Exchange Netflow,” which keeps track of the net amount of the cryptocurrency that’s entering into or exiting the wallets associated with all centralized exchanges.

When the value of this metric is positive, it means the holders are depositing a net number of coins into these platforms. As one of the main reasons why investors transfer to the exchanges is for selling-related purposes, this kind of trend can be a bearish sign for the asset’s price.

On the other hand, the indicator being negative suggests the outflows outweigh the inflows and a net number of tokens is moving out of the exchanges. Such a trend can indicate that the investors are accumulating, which is something that can naturally be bullish for ETH.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Ethereum Exchange Netflow over the past year:

As is visible in the above graph, the Ethereum Exchange Netflow observed a massive negative spike yesterday after the crash in the asset’s price took place.

In total, the investors withdrew 350,000 ETH (worth around $982 million at the current exchange rate of the token) from the exchanges in this outflow spree. “This is the highest amount of net exchange withdrawals since January 2024!” notes the analytics firm.

Given the timing of the outflows, it would appear likely that they were made by whales looking to buy Ethereum at cheap post-crash prices. The accumulation from the investors has in turn helped the cryptocurrency reach a bottom and make some recovery.

The Exchange Netflow could now be to keep an eye on in the coming days, as the upcoming trend in it might also influence the ETH price. Naturally, a continuation of the outflows would be a positive sign, while an increase in inflows could spell a bearish outcome.

In some other news, the number two stablecoin by market cap, USDC, has seen its transaction count shoot up recently, as IntoTheBlock has pointed out in another X post.

“USDC is becoming increasingly popular, with the number of daily transactions increasing by over 119% in the last year!” says the analytics firm. Stablecoins can end up acting as fuel for volatile assets like Ethereum, so increased activity related to them can be a good sign for the market.

ETH Price

At the time of writing, Ethereum is floating around $2,800, down more than 11% over the last seven days.

Cboe BZX Exchange has proposed to amend Rule 19.3 to allow the exchange to list and trade options on spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds. This is a "competitive filing" based on a similar proposal submitted by NYSE American, which is currently pending with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing specifically mentions the Bitwise Ethereum ETF, the Grayscale Ethereum Trust, the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust, "and any trust that holds ether."

Rule 19.3 currently allows options trading on fund shares tied to specific investments, like financial instruments, money market assets, precious metals (considered commodities) and Bitcoin (a cryptocurrency also classified as a commodity), the filing states, and Ethereum funds work the same way — they are Ethereum-backed ETFs set up as trusts.

"The Exchange believes that offering options on the Ethereum Funds will benefit investors by providing them with an additional, relatively lower cost investing tool to gain exposure to spot ether as well as a hedging vehicle to meet their investment needs in connection with ether products and positions," Cboe BZX wrote in the filing.

Options trading on spot Bitcoin ETFs officially went live in November 2024.

Options and derivatives provide liquidity and price discovery for larger institutions, giving them exposure to the underlying asset's price action. Large institutions typically use options as a trading hedge, while retail traders use options for speculation. Options on spot ETFs could ease bitcoin price volatility in the long run by increasing market liquidity — though early conditions suggest continued high volatility as the product goes through price discovery, crypto derivatives trader Gordon Grant told The Block in December.

The nine spot Ethereum ETFs generated $1.5 billion in trading volume on Monday amid the crypto market plunge. This eclipsed the previous $1.22 billion record set on Dec. 19 — the largest since their July 23, 2024 launch day, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard.

ETH is trading down 1.62% over the last 24 hours to around $2,746, according to The Block's price page. Over the last 24 hours, the cryptocurrency saw $40.2 billion of trading volume.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

In a major move that has gained the attention of the crypto community, 19,037 ETH (worth over $53 million at current prices) has recently exited major crypto exchange Coinbase to a brand new Ethereum wallet.

According to the blockchain data tracker Whale Alert, "19,037 ETH worth $53,538,431 transferred from Coinbase to an unknown new wallet."

Bearing in mind that withdrawals from exchanges might reveal buying while deposits refer to selling, a whale or large holder might be accumulating ETH. The receiving wallet being entirely new adds further speculation that a new crypto whale may be entering the market.

The appearance of a potential new whale is not an isolated incident. Over the past few months, Ethereum has seen increased institutional interest, with hedge funds and large investors accumulating ETH.

Other scenarios might be likely. The move might be a reshuffling of funds by Coinbase itself; it is also possible that a crypto whale might be moving off their assets to cold storage to seek more control and protection.

Ethereum price action

The second-largest coin fell slightly as the cryptocurrency markets saw profit-taking on Wednesday. At writing time, ETH had fallen 1.44% in the previous 24 hours to $2788, albeit higher than Monday's lows of $2150.

Ethereum fell as much as 27% to $2,135 on Monday, its worst intraday drop since May 2021, resulting in liquidations of more than $600 million in perpetual futures markets. The unraveling of leveraged bets on Ethereum made ETH one of the hardest-hit cryptocurrencies in the broader market sell-off, which saw over $2.2 billion in crypto assets liquidated in 24 hours.

As market uncertainty persists, crypto analyst Ali noted that the most important support level for Ethereum is between $2,238 and $2,614, where 12.18 million wallets acquired 63.07 million ETH.

Charles Hoskinson, Cardano founder, has shared a notable insight into how investors should see the cryptocurrency market. Hoskinson painted an optimistic picture of the crypto industry in an update shared with his over one million followers on X.

Crypto market resilience after mass liquidations

Hoskinson’s bold statement centers on the resilience of the crypto market and the possibility of a bull run in 2025. He noted that the market has continued to thrive despite the challenges it has faced in recent times.

Notably, the Cardano founder highlighted the loss of about $710 billion, and 740,000 traders liquidated in 24 hours. This refers to the combined liquidation suffered in the broader cryptocurrency space.

Despite the massive volume of funds lost, Hoskinson noted with delight that the crypto market had absorbed the downturn. He considers the market already rebounding and on a full recovery path.

Hoskinson maintains that this resilience suggests 2025 is crypto’s year to have a significant bull cycle and a breakout year for the industry.

He contrasted this recent resilience with previous years, when the crypto market experienced a crisis. Hoskinson noted that the LUNA and FTX collapse triggered a long bear market.

However, the market has nearly recovered from the shock with the current $710 billion loss, which is more significant. In effect, Hoskinson emphasized that the current crypto market has matured and can absorb volatility without severe damage. This signals a catalyst for a massive rally for 2025.

Industry leaders share bullish sentiment

Hoskinson’s bullish prediction aligns with those of other industry leaders, who believe that the energy level on the crypto industry will support bull markets. Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO, sees the U.S. Congress as a notable ally and crypto-friendly, which could trigger growth.

Similarly, Changpeng Zhao, former Binance CEO, made a cryptic statement, referring to 2025 as a "send it" year. Many believe the catchy phrase signals optimism for the crypto industry.

Market observers are keenly watching events unfold to see how they align with the bullish forecasts of these industry giants.

Ethereum’s price is yet to recover from the drop it has been experiencing lately. Therefore, more downside could be expected in the coming weeks.Technical Analysis

By Edris Derakhshi (TradingRage)The Daily Chart

On the daily chart, the price has been making lower highs and lows since getting rejected from the resistance at $4,000. Several support levels have been lost in the last few months, especially the 200-day moving average, located around the $3,000 mark.

While the price has already dropped to the $2,200 support and rebounded, there is still the chance for the market to decline lower as long as the cryptocurrency remains below the 200-day moving average.The 4-Hour Chart

Looking at the 4-hour timeframe, the price has gradually declined inside a large falling wedge pattern. While the market broke the pattern to the downside on Monday, it recovered, reclaiming the $2,800 level. Yet, the RSI still shows values below 50%, indicating that the momentum is still bearish.

Therefore, if the price does not break back above the $3,000 level soon, a deeper correction or a longer consolidation could be expected in the coming weeks.Sentiment Analysis

By Edris Derakhshi (TradingRage)Ethereum Open Interest

As Ethereum’s price is in a steep downtrend, market participants wonder where the price will finally find support. Analyzing the futures market sentiment could provide helpful insights into this situation.

This chart presents the Ethereum funding rates metric, which measures whether the buyers or the sellers are executing their orders aggressively (using market orders) on aggregate. Favourable funding rates indicate bullish sentiment, while negative values show bearish sentiment.

As the chart suggests, the funding rates have dropped significantly following the recent crash. Judging by its current values, it is safe to say that the futures market is no longer overheated. However, without sufficient demand in the spot market, the market will not be able to recover any time soon.

U.Today has prepared the top three news stories over the past day.

XRP hits ultra rare golden cross versus Bitcoin

XRP has recently demonstrated curious activity on its price chart, raising questions about whether this signals the beginning of "something bigger" or just another fluctuation on the volatile crypto market. The token has experienced a remarkable 367% increase against Bitcoin since November, a performance that is hard to ignore. Now, the asset has formed a golden cross on the weekly time frame, a technical indicator that typically suggests strong bullish momentum. However, the unpredictable nature of the crypto market complicates the outlook. Currently, XRP is valued at 0.000026 BTC, reflecting a 33.8% rise over the previous 24 hours, although it remains far from its record high of 0.00025 BTC set in May 2017. Achieving such heights would require XRP's market cap to exceed $1 trillion, which would result in the asset's price surpassing $24.7.

6.51 trillion SHIB anomaly stuns Shiba Inu coin

According to recent data from IntoTheBlock, there has been a significant anomaly in the Shiba Inu token's on-chain activity. Whale wallets experienced a 673% increase in outflows, totaling 6.51 trillion SHIB in just 24 hours. What makes this a rare occurrence is that this surge in outflows was matched by an equal amount of inflows (also about 6.51 trillion SHIB). Detailed data indicates that outflows slightly exceeded inflows, resulting in a net total for the period of 3.29 billion SHIB. At the price of $0.000015, this amount is worth approximately $50,000, which has minimal impact on the overall market. The data suggests a divided opinion among wealthy SHIB holders, as both selling and buying activities are occurring at significant levels. Currently, SHIB's price remains stable within a tight range of $0.0000147 to $0.000017, with ongoing market dynamics determining where the meme token goes next.

Ethereum's Buterin says Pectra will double L2 capacity

In his recent X post, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin stated that the upcoming Pectra hard fork is set to double the capacity of layer-2 networks. This will be achieved by increasing the blob target from 3 to 6. "Blobs" are large data packets introduced with the Dencun hard fork in early 2024 that aim to enhance scalability for these networks. Buterin emphasized the necessity of scaling to retain users, warning that "if Ethereum does not offer this, then people will find it elsewhere." The Pectra hard fork, which includes a slew of various Ethereum improvement proposals (EIPs), is scheduled for release in March. It was initially planned as the most ambitious Ethereum upgrade with 20 improvement proposals. However, it was later divided into two. Additionally, Buterin suggested that the blob target should be subject to staker voting, allowing for adjustments in response to technological advancements without waiting for future hard forks.