Ethereum Rises 0.634% as DeFi Activity Surges, Whales Make Moves

Ethereum's latest price was $2558.18, up 0.634% in the last 24 hours. Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has emphasized the need for Ethereum to be more resilient and private to serve as a reliable form of cash. In a recent post on the social media platform X, Buterin commented on a report about Sweden's transition towards a cashless society. The report highlighted Sweden's plans to become completely cashless by 2025, which have been partially successful. However, due to geopolitical uncertainties and the war in Eastern Europe, the Swedish government is now encouraging citizens to keep more cash on hand. Sweden launched a pilot program for an "e-krona" in 2017, but ended it in 2023. The Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, stated that there was little need to issue a digital krona but would re-evaluate the plans if the European Central Bank issued a digital euro. Buterin's response to the story underscored the fragility of centralized implementations of cashless societies and the necessity for Ethereum to be robust and private enough to play a similar role.

Ethereum's decentralized finance (DeFi) activity continues to grow, with the total value locked in Ethereum rising significantly in recent months. Platforms like Pendle, Ether.fi, and EigenLayer have seen substantial increases in deposits, contributing to Ethereum's leading position in the DeFi market. This growth in DeFi activity is expected to support Ethereum's ecosystem and reduce the chances of a major drop, as many investors remain bullish about a rebound. Ethereum still leads all blockchains in total value locked, holding 54% of the market, compared to Solana's 8% and BNB Chain's 5% among Layer-1 networks.

Whales have been making significant moves in the Ethereum market, signaling renewed interest amidst fluctuating price dynamics. An Ethereum whale wallet associated with an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) unstaked 10,195 ETH and transferred these tokens to Kraken. This wallet had remained inactive for three years before executing this sizeable unstaking and sell-off. Additionally, another dormant wallet, inactive for eight years, deposited 1,764 ETH into Kraken, realizing a profit exceeding $3.93 million. These substantial deposits from long-inactive wallets have sparked curiosity regarding whether these whales anticipate a price drop or are merely reacting to prevailing market conditions. Despite the recent sell-offs, day traders maintain a bullish outlook for ETH, as highlighted by on-chain analytics platform Coinglass. Current data indicates that traders are heavily leveraged, establishing support at $2,466 and resistance at $2,612. At these price levels, traders have amassed an impressive $1.02 billion in long positions against $192.57 million in short positions, suggesting a bullish sentiment and confidence that ETH won’t drop below the $2,466 threshold in the near future.