A large cryptocurrency whale has liquidated over $41 million worth of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization Ethereum ($ETH) shortly before the cryptocurrency market crashed and lost over 6% of its value in just 24 hours.
According to on-chain analysis service Lookonchain, the whale dumped 22,341 ETH then valued at $41 million in a move that realized a loss of $1.7 million for the whale, but successfully avoided a market crash.
The whale realized its loss by moving the ETH tokens to leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, where it sold the funds and then withdraw them in the form of leading stablecoin USDT.
The move came ahead of a cryptocurrency market crash that saw the total capitalization of the space drop by over 6% to $1.1 trillion, the lowest level in at least two months, that came amid reports SpaceX sold all of its Bitcoin – even though these remain unconfirmed – and as China’s struggling property giant Evergrande filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the United States.
While the price of Bitcoin is down by around 7.3% in the last 24-hour period and over 10% in the last seven days, Ethereum’s price dropped by 9.5% in the past week and 6% over the last 24-hour period as it outperformed the flagship cryptocurrency.
Ethereum’s performance is tied to reports that suggest the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to approve the listing of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) indirectly offering exposure to the cryptocurrency through ETH futures contracts.
Notably earlier this week, Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase gained regulatory approval to offer Bitcoin and Ether futures trading to customers in the United States. Coinbase’s foray into the derivatives sector isn’t a recent endeavor. In September 2021, the company submitted an application to the National Futures Association (NFA) seeking FCM registration.
Featured image via Pixabay.
