Blockchain analyst firm Santiment recently reported that the top 200 Ethereum wallets have amassed a staggering 62.76 million ETH, boasting a collective value of approximately $124.1 billion. The accumulation trend reveals a noteworthy surge of 30.3% since November 21st, 2022. Simultaneously, the Ethereum community witnessed a rise in new wallets, with 94.7 thousand added in a single day, marking the highest spike since July.
The surge in Ethereum wallet holdings coincides with a notable breakout in the price of Ethereum (ETH), driven by a growing interest from institutional investors in the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Over the past 30 days, Ether’s value has surged by 20%, breaching the $2,000 mark. This surge indicates a shifting focus toward Ethereum, and the renewed bullish momentum has propelled ETH’s year-to-date gains to an impressive 71.75%.
The surge in institutional interest can be traced back to a pivotal moment on November 1st when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acknowledged Grayscale Investment’s application to transform its Ethereum trust into an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). The SEC, responding to a court order is obligated to review Grayscale’s pending ETF applications, though a confirmation for a spot crypto ETF has yet to be made.
The bullish signals intensified as BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, filed for a spot Ether ETF, breaching the $2,000 resistance and reaching a 6-month high on the same day. BlackRock officially submitted the S-1 form to the SEC last week.
However, analysts anticipate that the SEC’s potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in early 2024 could pave the way for the approval of a spot Ethereum ETF shortly after that, further fueling the bullish sentiment surrounding Ether.
Current Ethereum Statistics & Predictions
Despite the recent surge, Ethereum is currently trading at $1,991.90, with a 24-hour trading volume of $12 billion, reflecting a 2.18% decrease in the last 24 hours and a 1.82% dip over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap.
Looking ahead, the PricePredictions website suggests a bullish long-term trend for Ethereum, predicting a price increase of $6.90 over the next 7 days, reaching $1,957.33 by November 28th, 2023. In the short term, machine learning algorithms indicate a neutral trend, signaling a potential slight increase with the possibility of a minor decrease over the next few hours, urging investors to remain vigilant in this dynamic market.
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