In the past week, three newly created wallets withdrew over $150 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) from Binance and Kraken, as reported by blockchain tracker Lookonchain. The first whale withdrew 35,860 ETH worth more than $64 million from Binance across a series of transactions, while the second pulled out 27,000 Ethereum worth more than $48 million from Binance across four withdrawals. The third wallet withdrew 23,660 ETH worth more than $42 million from Kraken across five transactions.
The withdrawals could possibly be reflective of traders choosing to self-custody their crypto amidst the recent regulatory crackdown on the digital asset sector in the United States. Earlier this month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance, the largest global crypto exchange by trading volume, and the company’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for allegedly violating securities laws. A day later, the SEC also sued Coinbase, alleging the top US crypto exchange had operated as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. It is possible that some traders are withdrawing their cryptocurrency from centralized exchanges and opting to hold it in their own wallets in order to avoid regulatory scrutiny.
Despite regulatory uncertainty, some select traders continue to profit in the digital asset marketplace. Lookonchain notes that one “smart whale” has netted more than $6 million trading Lido Staked Ether (stETH) in the past three months. This trader bought 27,606 stETH at $1,629 from March 13 to March 15, sold 12,746 stETH at $1,937 on April 21, bought 15,701 stETH at $1,671 on June 15, and sold 15,125 stETH at $1,724 on June 19.
As of writing, Ethereum is trading at $1,787, up nearly 3% in the past 24 hours.
Source: The DALY HODL
