A surprise development by the SEC last month sparked a surge in addresses holding large amounts of ETH during the period as well.
There has been a 3% increase in the number of Ethereum addresses holding 10,000 or more ETH in the past three weeks. This metric is seen as an indicator of increasing institutional investment and accumulation by Ethereum whales and high net worth individuals.
Well-known crypto analyst, Ali Martinez, wrote on Twitter, “The number of Ethereum addresses holding 10,000+ ETH has increased by 3% in the last three weeks, indicating an important increase in buying pressure!”
Therefore, a surge in addresses with large ETH holdings indicates increased buying pressure and demand from large-cap investors. This could potentially be a bullish sign for Ethereum as hoarding by whales is often a precursor to rising asset prices.
The development comes a month after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached a landmark decision to approve Ethereum spot ETFs. The financial officer authorized a total of eight separate ETF products tracking Ethereum proposed by Grayscale, VanEck, ARK Invest, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, BlackRock, 21Shares, and Invesco Galaxy.
The listing will allow traditional investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies through regulated investments and is also expected to open new capital streams while increasing mainstream accessibility and liquidity. Therefore, the group of whales is optimistic about this development as evidenced by the collection activities.
This trend is further confirmed by Glassnode data, which shows that the central exchange is experiencing a supply shortage for both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Only 11.73% of Bitcoin's total supply and a much lower 10.56% of Ethereum's supply remain on major exchanges.
This indicates that investors are withdrawing and holding their cryptocurrencies off-exchange, which further signals an accumulation trend.
When supply on the exchange dries up, it can create upward price pressure as the remaining liquidity is absorbed by buyers. Interestingly, Ethereum seems to be more limited than Bitcoin on exchanges at the moment.
