Ether Drops 20% Following $46M ETH Transfer by Trading Firm

According to Spot On Chain, a wallet linked to Jump Trading has transferred 17,576 ETH to centralized exchanges, coinciding with a significant drop in Ether's (ETH) price to its lowest point since January.

Ether's price plummeted as the prominent trading firm moved substantial amounts of ETH, likely in anticipation of potential liquidation. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value saw a 20% decline in the past 24 hours, hitting a seven-month low of under $2,100 during Monday's Asian trading hours, as reported by CoinDesk.

Spot On Chain identified the wallet associated with Jump Trading, a major Chicago-based trading firm, which transferred over $46 million worth of 17,576 ETH to centralized exchanges. Since July 25, the wallet has moved nearly 90,000 ETH to exchanges and still holds 37,600 wstETH and 11,500 stETH. wstETH is a DeFi-compatible version of Lido's staked ether (stETH).

Dr. Julian Hosp, CEO and co-founder of decentralized platform Cake Group, suggested on X that Jump Trading's actions might be due to either a margin call in traditional markets requiring weekend liquidity or a strategic exit from the crypto space due to regulatory concerns, possibly related to Terra Luna.

The liquidation process over the weekend and early Monday has faced criticism from the crypto community, as this period typically features lower liquidity, making it harder for the market to absorb large orders at stable prices.