The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum [ETH] by market capitalization, has begun to climb as the West Asian crisis appears to be de-escalating.
Another factor supporting ETH’s optimism is the significant demand from whales, along with a massive spike in Open Interest (OI), which indicates that Futures demand for the asset is rising.
At press time, ETH was up 1.25% over the past 24 hours, trading at $2,166. Despite the price recovery, the asset appears to have experienced lower participation, as reflected in its trading volume, which has plummeted over 33% to $18.53 billion.
Falling volume alongside a rising price suggests that the current upside move may not be sustainable, as investors and traders seem hesitant to participate in the asset compared to the previous day.
Ethereum whales’ growing demand
Despite lower volume, crypto giants have shown strong interest in the asset. On the 25th of March, Ethereum whales added massive 142,773 ETH, worth $308 million, from major exchanges like Binance, Bitget, and Kraken.
The only notable name in this accumulation was Bitmine, which added 67,111 ETH worth $145 million.
Analytics tool CryptoQuant reveals similar data, showing a massive decline in exchange reserves.
A significant drop of 842,604 ETH in the total exchange reserves has been recorded over the past week, indicating that not only whales and institutions are accumulating, but retail investors are as well.
It appears that this potential accumulation might be an early sign of recovery, following the U.S. easing its pressure in West Asia through peace talks.
Retail interest spikes in Ethereum
Alongside long-term holders, intraday players also appeared to be following the same trend by placing strong bets on the long side, as shared by derivatives analytics tool CoinGlass.
As of press time, intraday traders were heavily positioned at $2,086.8 on the lower side and $2,183.4 on the upper side (both near liquidation levels).
At these levels, traders have built $887.04 million worth of long-leveraged positions, while $255.29 million in short-leveraged positions sit on the opposite side, which could be liquidated if the asset crosses the $2,183.4 level.
In fact, Ethereum’s OI surged 7.51% over the past 24 hours, reaching $30.83 billion, indicating a rise in the notional value of ETH contracts driven by increased leverage exposure and fresh position buildup.
Will ETH break the bullish chart?
On the four-hour chart, ETH appeared bullish, as it formed a bullish inverted head and shoulders pattern and looked to be on the verge of a breakout.
Currently, ETH seems to be experiencing resistance at the neckline near $2,180, which it has faced over the last 10 candles.
If ETH’s upside move continues and it clears the key resistance level at $2,180 and closes a four-hour candle above it, it could potentially see an impressive price jump of over 8% and may reach the $2,351 level in the coming days.
However, this bullish thesis is only valid if the price moves above the $2,180 level; otherwise, it will be invalidated.
As of now, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 55.89, indicating that momentum is gradually shifting toward the bullish side, with buying pressure slightly outweighing selling pressure.
Final Summary
- Ethereum whales have added a massive 142,773 ETH, worth $308 million, over the past 24 hours.
- The four-hour chart shows that ETH is poised for a 7% rally, but only if it clears the $2,180 level.
