Arbitrum (ARB) recently conducted airdrop saw around 90.15 million tokens being distributed to 131 DAO addresses, valued at approximately $118 million. However, immediately after the airdrop, a whale nicknamed “TRIDENT” sold 131,345 ARB tokens through three different addresses, earning $172,000 at a price of $1.31 each.
Notably, TRIDENT has sold 131,345 $ARB ($172K) at $1.31 through 3 addresses after receiving 257,540 $ARB ($337K).https://t.co/knKqrcg3Qb pic.twitter.com/vHWJxagrEY
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 25, 2023
This action may have had a negative impact on the price of ARB, which fell by 0.3% in the last hour and 0.2% in the daily charts. It is worth noting that the crypto markets had already experienced a correction before the airdrop took place. This is not the first time whales have dumped ARB, as two anonymous whales sold millions of dollars worth of tokens in April, despite incurring significant losses.
Challenges facing DeFi platforms highlighted by Arbitrum’s airdrop and Whale dumping
Despite these challenges, analyst Jack Niewold believes that ARB has the potential to exceed well-known cryptocurrencies like Hedera, Aptos, Stellar, ICP, ETC, LEO Token, Avalanche, and XRP. This is because ARB can provide its holders with access to leveraged ETH beta that cannot be liquidated. However, Niewold reprimanded the ARB community, saying, “You sold the airdrop.”
$ARB will inevitably flip Hedera, Aptos, Stellar, ICP, ETC, LEO Token, Avalanche, and XRP, all while providing exposure to unliquidatable leveraged ETH beta
— Jack Niewold 🫡 (@JackNiewold) April 24, 2023
but you sold the airdrop
ARB faces resistance at $1.3570, with support at $1.2976 in the 4-hour chart. Although ARB prices seem to indicate a consolidation in the short term, there is optimism that the platform will rebound from its current price of $1.32. Since its launch in March 2021, ARB has experienced a steep drop of 84.77% from its all-time high of $8.67.
Overall, the recent airdrop and subsequent whale dumping highlight the challenges that DeFi platforms like ARB face. However, the platform’s unique features make it a promising contender in the crypto market, and analysts remain optimistic about its future potential.