Where Did $3 Billion ETH Go?

The identity of the cryptocurrency investors who removed $3 billion in Ethereum tokens has not been confirmed.

About 800,000 ether (ETH) has left the cryptocurrency exchange platforms since the moment that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot ether ETFs.

This major announcement was a boon to the cryptocurrency industry, causing prices to climb, but it has also created a mystery. Why has so much ether been withdrawn since then?

On May 23rd, spot Ethereum ETFs were approved by the US government, and they can now be sold publicly on national securities exchanges. Shortly afterward, the SEC started approving applications for these types of products.

Ethereum’s price started jumping just a few days before, climbing by 18.5% in a few hours. At that point, there were only strong rumors that ETFs would be approved. The token’s rate has remained high, keeping above $3,750 almost completely since that price spike.

Ethereum is up 25% for the month and 1.26% for the day, having benefited substantially from ETF approval. ETF product approval does not qualify the products for trading right away. They have to fill out a statement of registration and submit those- a process which could take weeks. By the end of the month, we could see the first set of these ETFs being publicly traded.

What Do the Withdrawals Mean?

The massive withdrawal of more than $3 billion in ether is likely an indication that many investors do not want to wait any longer for Ethereum to go higher. They are happy with the unexpected gains from ETF approval and are ready to cash out. We could see more withdrawals on a large scale as the market waits for ETFs to go live.

The information gathered on the massive withdrawals shows that they are not all from a few whales but are spread across many thousands of investors who have decided to take some or all of their ether and cash out while the price is very high.