While some large holders appear to have trimmed positions late last year, other deep-pocketed investors have begun accumulating ETH—signs that the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap retains robust backing.
Major cryptocurrency ETH experienced a turbulent 2024, with a large price swing and ultimately closing the year down by about 15%. Yet despite the downturn and regulatory pressures, on-chain data suggests that large investors remained engaged in the market.
According to on-chain analysis, a prominent whale made a splash in early January with a purchase of more than 22,000 ETH at roughly the $3,300 range — a move that signaled a countertrend view and suggested that, despite short-term volatility, big players still see potential for sizable gains in the near future.
Meanwhile, on-chain analytics also pointed to a dynamic environment. New Ethereum addresses increased over 3% in the past week, signifying fresh entrants to the network. Though active addresses briefly declined, observers saw this as a lull rather than a broader downturn, given the recent whale interest and the broader health of the ecosystem.
After a flat stretch under $3,500, ETH faced repeated attempts to break free of its trading range. Indicators like the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) and Taker-Buy-Sell ratios bounced between mild bearish and bullish signals, keeping many traders on the sidelines.
Still, leading analysts argued that a decisive breach of the $3,800 level could kick-start a rally toward $5,000 — an event that would likely require coordinated whale accumulation and improved overall market sentiment.
While Bitcoin significantly outperformed most cryptos in 2024, ETH's developer ecosystem and Web3 integrations remained unrivaled. Decentralized applications (dApps), decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and non-fungible token (NFT) platforms still heavily rely on ETH's network. Despite occasional spikes in fees and the growing popularity of Layer-2 networks, ETH continued to stand out as the default environment for cutting-edge blockchain innovation.
Whether ETH can push past $4,000 or $5,000 later this year hinges on its ability to attract ongoing whale support, entice new retail users, and deliver more efficient transactions through recent and upcoming upgrades. If these catalysts align, ETH could stage a decisive breakout and close the performance gap with Bitcoin.
Given ETH’s indispensable role in crypto markets, many experts believe that short-term price turbulence is merely part of its longer trajectory. As more large investors take advantage of sideways action to accumulate, the stage is set for ETH to not only recover its footing, but potentially reach new highs in 2025.
