After hiking from a low of $0.19, Ethena got rejected at $0.26 and has since declined for two consecutive days. As such, ENA dropped to a low of $0.22 before slightly rebounding.
At press time, ENA traded at $0.23, down 7.27% on the daily charts, indicating sharp downward pressure.
Interestingly, after the market retracement, the Ethena team jumped into the market and attempted to pump the altcoin through accumulation.
Team wallet scoops up $12 million ENA
According to Arkham data, the ENA team wallet scooped up 25 million ENA worth $5.93 million from Bybit.
The team’s move was a buildup to another purchase executed a day earlier, in which the team withdrew 25 million ENA for $6.25 million. In total, they withdrew 50 million ENA worth $12.18 million over a 24-hour period.
Even more importantly, these two activities were a return to an old pattern after offloading a significant amount of tokens a week ago.
A week ago, the team deposited 40 million ENA worth $8.16 million. Now, after closing the gap created with the sale, the wallet’s total holdings rose to 789.8 million ENA, worth $185 million.
Significantly, this team’s move was not an isolated case, as top holders jumped into the market after ENA retraced.
Over the past 24 hours, top holders increased their holdings by 171.65 million ENA, while they offloaded only 83.29 million.
In doing so, Holder’s Balance Change remained positive and settled at 88.36 million ENA, a clear sign of aggressive spot accumulation.
With the team accumulating, backed by other top holders, it signals strong conviction with the market, as they anticipate a market recovery from the current slip.
Historically, increased accumulation from major players has followed price appreciation as demand absorbs the arising selling pressure.
Why did ENA slip?
Despite the team’s continued effort, ENA recorded a sharp drop as other market participants, especially retail, rushed to cash out.
According to Coinalyze, sellers overpowered buyers on the 8th of January, with sell volume at 22.59 million compared to 15.75 million in buy volume.
As a result, the altcoin recorded a negative Buy Sell Delta of -6.85 million, a clear sign of aggressive spot selling. Often, seller dominance has accelerated an asset’s downward pressure, a prelude to lower
Can these purchases prop up ENA?
Ethena’s team to boost ENA’s price movement by absorbing the arising sell pressure failed for now. In fact, ENA fell below EMA50, signaling strengthening bearish pressure.
At the same time, its Stochastic Momentum Index (SMI) made a bearish crossover and dropped deeper into the bearish zone to 42.
This downward spiral suggested strengthened bearish momentum backed by strong seller pressure. Thus, sellers took control of the market, rendering recent purchases inadequate for a trend reversal.
Therefore, prevailing market conditions point to further losses for ENA. Thus, the altcoin could drop towards the $0.20 support level.
However, if the team’s effort is finally positively felt, ENA could reclaim EMA50 at $0.25 and target $0.30. For this outlook to hold, the altcoin must hold above $0.23.
