Ethereum recovers from dip as Hong Kong ETH ETF approval sparks whale buying spree

Hong Kong has approved applications for a spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF.
Whales have been accumulating ETH as they view recent crypto market dump as buying opportunity.
Ethereum may not post significant gains in coming days despite price recovery.

Ethereum's (ETH) price slightly improved on Monday after Hong Kong approved applications for a spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF. Whales have also been accumulating ETH after the market dip over the weekend.

Daily digest market movers: Hong Kong ETH ETF approval, whale accumulation

Ethereum has seen a slight gain coming out of a bearish weekend. Here are your latest market movers for the number one altcoin:

Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) approved applications for spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on Monday. The approval was confirmed by several applicants, including HashKey Capital, Harvest Global Investments, Bosera Capital and China Asset Management.

Unlike spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, which are based on cash redemption, Hong Kong's spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs will allow an in-kind redemption and subscription model. This means that investors can subscribe to and redeem their investments using the underlying asset.

In contrast, several analysts and crypto community members expect the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to deny applications for a spot Ethereum ETF in May.
Hong Kong's ETH ETF approval coincides with increased whale activity surrounding Ethereum. Following the crypto market dip over the weekend, whales have been on a buying spree for the second-largest digital asset.

In the past few hours, eight whales who have previously profited from ETH returned to spend a combined 31.88 million in USDT and USDC to purchase 9,787 ETH on-chain on Monday, according to data from Spot On Chain. The purchase comes at an average price of $3,257.

Another whale wallet related to digital asset firm Matrixport withdrew 16,300 ETH from Binance, according to data from Lookonchain. The same wallet had withdrawn ETH in bulk from exchanges on several occasions since March 29, withdrawing a total of 67,286 ETH.
Other large whale withdrawals include:

This whale spent 70M $USDC to buy 23,790 $ETH at $2,942 from the bottom again after $ETH dropped.

He has bought 85,931 $ETH($278.5M) from #Binance and #DEX in the past week, with an average buying price of $3,241.

He still holds $136M stablecoins and may buy more $ETH.… pic.twitter.com/d7yYdqEnDB
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 14, 2024

Lookonchain also posted on X:

It seems that whales bought $ETH at the bottom!

Whale"0x4359" withdrew 37,018 $ETH($120.7M) from #Binance 4 hrs ago and this whale has withdrawn 62,141 $ETH($202.6M) from #Binance in the past 5 days.https://t.co/41366OnM5Y

Fresh whale wallet"0xE347" withdrew 7,300 $ETH($23.8M)… pic.twitter.com/qEtTSYU3Us
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 13, 2024

The market dip before Hong Kong's spot ETH ETF approval may have seemed like a good buying opportunity for these whales. Some of these withdrawals may have also gone into Ethereum liquid staking and restaking protocols as several of them have recorded impressive increases in the past 24 hours, according to data from DeFiLlama.

Also read: Ethereum price recovers slightly as whales begin accumulation spree

Technical analysis - ETH may not see a huge price increase

Ethereum began the new week with a strong start, showing recovery signs from the general crypto market dump over the weekend.

While recent whale activity has enabled its price to recover from the bottom of $2,850 recorded on Saturday, ETH may not see huge increases in the next few days. If whales maintain their buying activity, ETH could settle inside the range of $3,210 and $3,406 within the next few days in an attempt to fill the liquidity void formed on April 12.

ETH/USDT 4-hour chart

However, things could change quickly if the upcoming Bitcoin halving - less than four days away - causes a significant shift in the crypto market. A move below the $3,056 support of March 20 will indicate another bearish trend in ETH. If it breaks past the $3,406 resistance of April 7, ETH could target the $3,730 key level and eventually rally to $4,000.

Also read: Ethereum extends correction as Van Eck CEO dampens chances of spot ETH ETF approval

ETH is currently trading at $3,134, up 3.1% at the time of writing on Monday.

Ethereum FAQs

What is Ethereum?

Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain with smart contracts functionality. Serving as the basal network for the Ether (ETH) cryptocurrency, it is the second largest crypto and largest altcoin by market capitalization. The Ethereum network is tailored for scalability, programmability, security, and decentralization, attributes that make it popular among developers.

What blockchain technology does Ethereum use?

Ethereum uses decentralized blockchain technology, where developers can build and deploy applications that are independent of the central authority. To make this easier, the network has a programming language in place, which helps users create self-executing smart contracts. A smart contract is basically a code that can be verified and allows inter-user transactions.

What is staking?

Staking is a process where investors grow their portfolios by locking their assets for a specified duration instead of selling them. It is used by most blockchains, especially the ones that employ Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism, with users earning rewards as an incentive for committing their tokens. For most long-term cryptocurrency holders, staking is a strategy to make passive income from your assets, putting them to work in exchange for reward generation.

Why did Ethereum shift from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake?

Ethereum transitioned from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism in an event christened “The Merge.” The transformation came as the network wanted to achieve more security, cut down on energy consumption by 99.95%, and execute new scaling solutions with a possible threshold of 100,000 transactions per second. With PoS, there are less entry barriers for miners considering the reduced energy demands.

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