On-chain data shows that a whale is rapidly accumulating ethereum (eth), selling large amounts of Wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) via Aave, a popular non-custodial protocol.
Whale borrows WBTC from Aave and buys eth
Starting February 16, Lookonchain data showed that the whale borrowed 280 Wrapped bitcoin (WBTC), equivalent to approximately $14.6 million, from Aave, one of the leading DeFi protocols.
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The whale subsequently purchased 5,150 eth. The whale is actively purchasing eth, not on centralized exchanges but through decentralized protocols. This move shows that the trader expects eth to outperform digital gold in the upcoming session.
It is not immediately clear what could have caused the whale to accumulate eth and dump bitcoin's resurgence. However, what is known is that since mid-January, ethereum has surpassed bitcoin in price and other metrics.
As an example, eth is up approximately 13% against btc in the last month of trading. Although eth prices cooled off from January highs, the bullish trend remains. Looking at the development on the daily chart, btc bulls recovered losses against eth.
Even so, they were unable to completely reverse the losses recorded in January. So far, immediate support is at 0.052 btc, which marks the current February lows. Still, a sharp loss below this critical support could strengthen btc in the short and medium term.
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The broader crypto community remains bullish on bitcoin, even as the crypto whale opts for eth. According to the daily chart, btc is around 2024 highs, the highest in just over two years. Experts and analysts expect more gains in the coming days. As long as btc stays above the $50,000 psychological support, the odds of the world's most valuable currency floating to $70,000 or higher remain high.
Billions of dollars flow into bitcoin
Wall Street and retail investors are investing billions of dollars in btc following the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At the same time, the general sentiment from investors and traders is that bitcoin will roar, considering the expected supply shock once the network halves miner rewards in early April. So, if current demand holds, the resulting imbalance could push btc into six figures.
Meanwhile, rising bitcoin prices have supported altcoins, and ethereum's dollar value has risen in recent weeks. Although the coin is capped below $3,000, supporters expect further gains in the medium term, citing improving defi, reading the expanding total value locked (TVL) according to DeFiLlama. data.
Featured image from Canva, TradingView chart
