Whale Accumulating Ethereum and Selling Wrapped Bitcoin via Aave
According to on-chain data, a whale is rapidly accumulating Ethereum (ETH) by selling large amounts of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) through Aave, a popular non-custodial protocol. The whale borrowed 280 WBTC, worth around $14.6 million, from Aave on February 16. They then used the borrowed WBTC to purchase 5,150 ETH. Interestingly, the whale is acquiring ETH through decentralized protocols rather than centralized exchanges, indicating their belief in ETH’s potential to outperform Bitcoin.
Reasons Behind Whale’s Accumulation of ETH
The exact reason for the whale’s decision to accumulate ETH and sell Bitcoin is unclear. However, since mid-January, Ethereum has been outperforming Bitcoin in terms of price and other metrics. ETH has seen a roughly 13% increase against BTC in the last month. Although ETH prices have cooled off from their January highs, the overall uptrend remains intact. BTC bulls have managed to recover some losses against ETH but haven’t fully reversed January’s losses.
Bullish Sentiment for Bitcoin Despite Whale’s Move
The broader crypto community remains bullish on Bitcoin, despite the whale’s preference for ETH. BTC is currently at its highest level in over two years and experts expect further gains in the coming days. With Wall Street and retail investors pouring billions of dollars into BTC following the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), there is anticipation of a supply shock once miner rewards are halved in April. If demand remains strong, this imbalance could drive BTC to reach six figures.
Rising Prices Benefit Altcoins, including Ethereum
The rising prices of Bitcoin have also had a positive impact on altcoins, with Ethereum experiencing a rally in dollar value over the past few weeks. Although it is currently capped below $3,000, supporters believe there are more gains to come in the medium term. The expanding total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols, as indicated by DeFiLlama data, suggests improving conditions for Ethereum and other altcoins.
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