Millions in Ethereum Exit World's Largest Crypto Exchange, Is Sell-Off Over?

Ethereum ($ETH) has, in the last seven days, suffered a decline of over 21% as volatility continues to affect the coin’s performance. However, it appears a reversal is on the horizon as Lookonchain, an on-chain analytics platform, has spotted 6,368 $ETH exiting the Binance exchange.

Ethereum whale activity signals confidence

Notably, the 6,368 $ETH, valued at $14.79 million, was pulled out of the world’s largest crypto exchange by a wallet believed to belong to the portfolio manager at HashKey Capital, Jacob Zhao.

The move suggests that Zhao is not looking to sell the asset anytime soon. Rather, he is moving it into self-custody or staking. Since the wallet is linked to a professional fund manager, it signals confidence in the outlook of Ethereum on the crypto market despite ongoing volatility.

The Ethereum community is already bullish about this large withdrawal, with some opining that professional investors rarely move such volume off exchanges for short-term trades. They expressed excitement that, despite the lingering volatility, Ethereum has the potential to bounce back.

Ethereum has fluctuated between a low of $2,265.60 and a peak of $2,393.06 within the last 24 hours. As of this writing, Ethereum exchanges hands at $2,281.71, which represents a slight increase of 0.19% for the coin.

However, trading volume remains low and has dropped by 35.65% to $34.94 billion. This is likely due to institutional dumping by BlackRock. The asset management giant has, within the past 48 hours, deposited 59,327 $ETH worth about $133.6 million onto Coinbase. Such a move is causing some retail investors to approach the market with caution.

Institutional Ethereum staking sparks confidence

Nonetheless, market watchers expect that this will improve as whales are entering an accumulation mode. As U.Today reported, a well-known whale entity referred to as "7 Siblings" has been very active and spent about $31 million in buying the dip.

If such massive accumulation continues on several fronts, it could trigger increased volume and impact the price positively.

Meanwhile, Ethereum treasury giant BitMine has staked over half of its $ETH reserves. As spotted by Arkham Intelligence, BitMine moved 209,504 $ETH into staking contracts. This is considered a bullish indicator, as it suggests confidence in the future price outlook for Ethereum.

While the asset is staked, BitMine is able to generate between $190 million and $200 million annually in revenue from it.