Ether slides 20% as trading firm moves $46M in ETH

Ether's (ETH) price cratered as a prominent crypto trading firm moved large amounts of ETH to centralized exchanges in preparation for potential liquidation.

Ethereum's native token, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, has dropped 20% in 24 hours, hitting a seven-month low of under $2,100 during Monday's Asian hours, according to CoinDesk data.

In the past 24 hours, a wallet identified as Chicago-based trading heavyweight Jump Trading by onchain sleuth Spot On Chain transferred 17,576 ETH worth over $46 million to centralized exchanges. In June, reports emerged that Jump Trading was being probed by the CFTC.

The wallet has moved nearly 90,000 ETH to exchanges since July 25 and still holds 37,600 wstETH and 11,500 stETH at press time. wstETH is the DeFi-compatible version of Lido's staked ether (stETH).

"The reason for the crazy crypto sell-off seems to be Jump Trading, who are either getting margin called in the traditional markets and need liquidity over the weekend, or they are exiting the crypto business due to regulatory reasons (Terra Luna related)," Dr. Julian Hosp, CEO and co-founder of decentralized platform Cake Group said on X.

The supposed liquidation over Sunday and early Monday has drawn the crypto community's ire. The said time frame is generally characterized by weak liquidity or the ability of the market to absorb large orders at stable prices.