Ethereum is outperforming the broader crypto market as it exploded to a monthly high of $1422 in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Recovering from a steep fall in the backdrop of higher than anticipated inflation numbers released on Wednesday, the coin is currently trading at around $1,350.
The rally follows an announcement by Tim Beiko of the Ethereum Foundation on June 15, suggesting a soft timeline of September 19 for the much-awaited Merge to proof-of-stake.
Whales or people who hold a large number of cryptocurrencies might be using the moment to accumulate ETH ahead of the Merge, which promises to make the network far more efficient by consuming 99.95% less electricity.
Lucas Outumuro, head of research at blockchain analysis firm IntoTheBlock, had written in his Friday newsletter:
“The total ETH balance held by addresses labelled as whales reached an all-time high this week. Addresses holding over 1% of the ETH in circulation have increased their positions”
It is believed investors or whales with conviction are still buying millions worth of ETH, taking advantage of the dip in prices amid the uncertain market conditions.
Conversely, around $150 million in ETH positions were liquidated in the past few hours, with a single largest order of $2.81 million on FTX, according to Coinglass data. Needless to say, most of the liquidated ETH were short orders.
A 7% hourly green candle with a volume of over $300 million was noticed on the charts, pushing the overall gains to just over 40% in the past 48 hours.
ETH was last trading at the same prices about a month ago, on June 13.
