Ethereum Shaky Above $1,600, Can Whales Liberate The Bulls?

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Ethereum climbed to $1,700 on Thursday following several days of nursing losses and nurturing support at $1,630. The bullish wave traversing the crypto market comes at a time when many investors are counting losses amid the promise of a bull run that currently seems nothing fairytale.

Ethereum Uptrend Weakens Despite Whale Activity

Ethereum markets have remained squashed since Friday, despite reports of whales increasing exposure to the token. Data by Lookochain shows that five whales have in the last seven days cumulatively purchased $94 million worth of Ether.

The biggest whale (smartestmoney.eth) scooped up approximately 18.2k ETH worth around $30.6 million, followed by 18k ETH valued at $30 million, 17.9k ETH worth roughly $30 million, and 2k ETH approximately $3.4 million.

Despite this uptake of ETH among whales and an uptrend forming on the ecosystem total value locked (TVL) in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, the technical outlook is not strong enough to sustain gains past $1,700.

Ethereum price stalls at $1,700
ETH/USD daily chart | Tradingview

Traders are adamant about booking new long positions in Ethereum, considering most indicators are in a worrisome downward trend.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator affirms the bearish stance in the market with a sell signal that has stuck around since early July. Unless the MACD line flips above the signal line in blue, the path with the least resistance would remain downward.

Adding credibility to the bearish outlook is the Money Flow Index, which measures the outflow and inflow volume of money in ETH markets. Since the beginning of July, outflow volume has significantly surpassed inflow volume.

A recent report by CoinShares found that Ethereum was the second among the digital assets investment products that saw the highest outflows last week compared to the week before.

Crypto analyst @ali_charts said that “large holders of Ethereum also called whales, have been “reshuffling since February. About 112 whales have adjusted their portfolios, either selling or redistributing their ETH.”

Until whales throw their full weight behind ETH, the token may continue to struggle to sustain the uptrend, especially above $2,000.

Support at $1,600 is currently in place to absorb the selling pressure. It has been reinforced by the lower ascending trendline. Nonetheless, declines to $1,400 where the next sturdiest support lies, cannot be ruled out just yet, considering the battered market structure.