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Ethereum is facing a pivotal test as the market struggles to hold momentum amid mounting selling pressure. After losing the $4,500 level, ETH has entered a tight consolidation range, with bulls now forced to defend current levels. Analysts warn that failure to reclaim $4,500 soon could open the door to a deeper correction, with downside targets near $3,900. This growing uncertainty weighs on sentiment, but institutions appear unfazed, continuing to accumulate ETH aggressively.

According to data from Lookonchain, whales and institutions purchased an impressive 218,750 ETH—worth approximately $942.8 million—in just the past two days. This surge in accumulation reflects a broader bet on Ethereum’s strength, not only as a leading smart contract platform but also as the centerpiece of an anticipated altcoin rally. With capital rotation away from Bitcoin becoming more evident, institutions appear to be positioning themselves early for Ethereum’s next potential leg higher.

Despite the pressure, Ethereum’s fundamentals remain robust, supported by increasing institutional flows, steady whale activity, and a growing DeFi ecosystem. The battle between bulls defending support and bears pushing for lower levels sets the stage for ETH’s trajectory in the next phase of this cycle.

Institutional Ethereum Accumulation Strengthens Bullish Outlook

Institutional flows into Ethereum remain strong despite the recent pullback. Lookonchain reports that Bitmine, one of the most active institutional players in the space, purchased 69,603 ETH—valued at around $300 million—from BitGo and Galaxy Digital.

Additionally, five newly created wallets collectively purchased 102,455 ETH, valued at approximately $441.6 million, from FalconX. These large-scale acquisitions highlight continued confidence in Ethereum’s long-term potential and reinforce the view that institutions are positioning themselves for future gains.

This wave of accumulation is significant for several reasons. First, it underscores Ethereum’s growing status as the centerpiece of institutional strategies, particularly in the context of capital rotation from Bitcoin into altcoins. Second, it demonstrates that even amid heightened volatility, demand for ETH remains resilient. These purchases, executed in size, suggest that institutional buyers are not only unfazed by short-term corrections but are actively using them as opportunities to scale exposure.

That said, risks remain in the near term. Technically, Ethereum must hold above $4,200 to avoid a sharper decline. Should this level fail, the next meaningful support lies near $3,900, a zone that could invite further selling pressure before buyers return. For now, institutional conviction provides a strong counterbalance to market uncertainty, signaling that Ethereum’s structural demand remains intact and may serve as the backbone of its next bullish phase.

ETH Consolidates Around Key Levels

Ethereum (ETH) is consolidating just below the $4,500 level, currently trading near $4,395 after days of sideways movement. The chart shows ETH maintaining a tight range between $4,250 and $4,500, with repeated tests of both support and resistance levels. This pattern reflects growing market indecision, as buyers attempt to defend structural demand while sellers continue applying pressure.

The 50-day moving average (blue line) is slightly above current price levels, acting as dynamic resistance, while the 100-day moving average (green line) around $4,313 provides nearby support. A sustained close below $4,250 would open the door for a deeper correction toward $3,900, which is the next significant support zone. On the upside, ETH must break and hold above $4,500 to confirm bullish momentum and potentially retest highs near $4,800.

Despite the lack of direction in price action, the broader structure remains constructive, with ETH trading well above the 200-day moving average (red line), which is trending upward near $3,773. This suggests the long-term bullish trend is intact, but the immediate outlook hinges on whether bulls can defend the $4,200–$4,250 area. For now, ETH remains in consolidation, with breakout or breakdown signals yet to materialize.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

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Ethereum advocacy firm Etherealize has closed a $40 million funding round to help it pitch the blockchain to Wall Street in a week that’s already seen public firms add over $1.2 billion worth of Ether to their treasuries. 

Etherealize said on Wednesday that the crypto-focused venture firms Electric Capital and Paradigm led the round, which it would use to “continue driving institutional adoption of Ethereum.”

The company launched in January with funding from the Ethereum Foundation and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to educate institutions on the blockchain and the Ether (ETH) token.

Wall Street has yet to embrace ETH as deeply as it has Bitcoin (BTC) when comparing the trading volumes and inflows to related exchange-traded funds.

Etherealize co-founder Grant Hummer said in January that amid the ETF launches, he noticed institutions lacked education on ETH, which the company wanted to address.

Etherealize to use funds for institutional tools 

Etherealize said the $40 million would be put toward developing crypto-based financial tools aimed at institutions.

The firm wants to build infrastructure for privately trading and settling tokenized assets, a settlement platform geared to “institutional tokenization workflows,” and applications aimed at markets for tokenized fixed income products, such as tokenized bonds.

“Over the past decade, Ethereum has gone from an experiment to the world’s most battle-tested, open financial network,” said Etherealize co-founder Danny Ryan, adding the raise would help upgrade “institutional finance to modern, safer, globally accessible rails.”

Public firms add $1.26 billion worth of ETH this week

Etherealize’s raise comes after public firms globally have added $1.2 billion worth of ETH to their holdings so far this week, according to data from the website Strategic ETH Reserve.

The Ether Machine, a so-called crypto treasury company that is planning to go public soon, made the week’s largest addition with a 150,000 ETH raise on Tuesday, valued at $654 million.

The same day, the largest ETH holding firm, BitMine Immersion Technologies, said it scooped up over 150,000 ETH over the previous week, with data from Arkham showing it bought an additional $65 million worth on Wednesday.

Related: Ether exchange reserves fall to 3-year low as ETFs, corporate treasuries soak up supply 

Sharplink Gaming and the Hong Kong-listed Yunfeng Financial announced they bought more ETH on Tuesday, making respective purchases worth $176 million and $44 million.

ETH at nearly 50% odds of $6,000 this year 

Nick Forster, the founder of crypto options platform Derive, said in a note on Wednesday that a possible Federal Reserve rate cut this month and the ETH buys by public companies have set it up “for explosive potential heading into Q4.”

He said ETH-buying firms now hold nearly 4% of the token supply, and a rate cut could see such companies “holding 6-10% of ETH’s supply by year-end, positioning them as a major force behind ETH’s price action.”

Forster predicted there was a 44% chance that ETH reaches $6,000 by the end of the year, and gave 30% odds of it hitting that price by the end of October.

Ether is currently trading for just under $4,400, up 1.8% on the day, but it has fallen 11.5% since its peak of around $4,950 on Aug. 24.

Trade Secrets: Ether could ‘rip like 2021’ as SOL traders brace for 10% drop 

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/etherealize-raises-40m-to-market-ethereum-firms-add-1-2b-this-week/feed/ 0 56683 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ripples-606-million-xrp-transfer-sparks-hopes-shiba-inu-shib-price-can-add-zero-dont-buy-ethereum-dip-says-top-trader-crypto-market-news/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ripples-606-million-xrp-transfer-sparks-hopes-shiba-inu-shib-price-can-add-zero-dont-buy-ethereum-dip-says-top-trader-crypto-market-news/#respond Tue, 19 Aug 2025 18:33:35 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/ripples-606-million-xrp-transfer-sparks-hopes-shiba-inu-shib-price-can-add-zero-dont-buy-ethereum-dip-says-top-trader-crypto-market-news/

Ripple’s $606M XRP transfer raises eyebrows

XRP shows signs of recovery as Ripple makes the big move.

• The big move. Ripple shifted 200M XRP on Aug. 18 to an unknown wallet.

San Francisco-based blockchain company Ripple has stirred speculations with a mysterious transfer involving millions of XRP. On August 18, on-chain tracking platform Whale Alert spotted a major transfer from Ripple involving 200,000,000 XRP. According to the data provider, Ripple had moved a mega amount of XRP to an unknown address. The transfer was worth over $606 million per XRP’s price at the time the transfer was executed. 

• Market context. Transfer happened during a market-wide downturn.

The massive XRP transfer from Ripple has sparked reactions across the community as the destination of the transferred assets remained anonymous. While market watchers have been closely monitoring on-chain moves like this, they have expressed curiosity as to whether the move could be the firm preparing for institutional deals or probably redistributing its reserves.

• Bullish view. Could signal private accumulation or strategic positioning for XRP adoption.

With the move coming amid a broad crypto market bloodbath, investors fear that the move might be Ripple preparing to dump its holdings ahead of deeper price declines. Following the anonymous nature of Ripple’s giant move on XRP today, the lack of clarity on the destination of the transfer has fueled discussions about whether it could be tied to upcoming private accumulation which may be bullish for XRP’s potential price.

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Shiba Inu price struggles at thin support

Shiba Inu coin holders better buckle up as SHIB price is on verge of adding zero.

• Key support level. $0.0000120 — repeatedly tested, now at risk of breaking.

SHIB is trading at $0.0000126 right now. The only thing holding it back from dropping into new territory is thin support at $0.0000120. SHIB price has been moving in tight waves this summer: a brief 8.9% gain in July, followed by a drop in August. 

Its support line has been tested several times on the daily chart, with each rebound losing strength. If it breaks, the token will reach areas last visited in Q1, when sentiment was far weaker.

• Bigger picture. 2025 marked by persistent monthly losses.

The weekly candles show the difficulty of this year. After the surge in 2024, SHIB failed to keep up. The year started with losses of 10.9% in January, followed by 26.1% in February, and red in March and June. Despite sporadic recoveries, the coin has been dropping for months.

For SHIB, the next few weeks are going to be important. The community needs to find enough buying power to hold steady above support and set up for a late-year push. They did it last November with a 49% rally, after all. If not, the charts are set to lock in the new reality of another zero. 

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Ethereum (ETH) price dip warning

Chris Weston, head of research at Australian trading firm Pepperstone, believes that traders should wait for ETH to regain its momentum.

• Key view. Traders should avoid rushing into dip-buying ETH.

Chris Weston, head of research at Australian trading firm Pepperstone, argues that traders should not rush to buy the Ethereum (ETH) dip. “As we see on the daily [chart], the time for patience on new longs is needed…” Weston said. Momentum buying instead of dip buying The trader has predicted that the price of the flagship altcoin could potentially drop back to the $4,100 level, which is the previous “breakout level.” 

• Market context. ETH fell to $4,233 intraday low.

Weston has opined that it would be more prudent to wait until the dip is bought by others and ETH regains its momentum. Earlier, the price of the leading alternative cryptocurrency plunged to an intraday low of $4,233, which is the lowest level since Aug. 12. That said, the cryptocurrency is still up by nearly 15% this August after surging by as much as 49% in July. 

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the government may still expand its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings on Aug. 14, backtracking remarks made a few hours earlier.

Bessent had told reporters during a television interview in the morning that the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would remain at its current level.

He said the reserve would consist of approximately $15 billion to $20 billion in Bitcoin that the government already controls, most of which was seized in criminal cases.

Bessent also indicated that there were no active plans to purchase more Bitcoin for the reserve.

However, later in the day, he posted on social media that the Treasury remained “committed to exploring budget-neutral pathways” to add to the reserve, reaffirming the government’s previously known stance toward accumulation.

Bessent did not clarify what a budget-neutral strategy might look like. In fiscal policy, that typically means finding ways to fund purchases without increasing the federal deficit, such as liquidating other assets, reallocating existing appropriations, or creating revenue streams to offset the cost.

The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was established in March through an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. It is part of a broader White House effort to integrate digital assets into U.S. financial strategy.

Supporters see it as a way to diversify national reserves, provide a hedge against inflation, and strengthen the country’s position in global currency competition. The program currently relies on Bitcoin confiscated by law enforcement as its base supply.

The change in tone came during a volatile trading session. Bitcoin reached a new record high above $124,000 overnight before falling back to about $117,000 later in the day.

The drop followed stronger-than-expected wholesale inflation data, which reduced market expectations that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in September.

Bessent’s comments also come amid leadership changes in the administration’s digital asset policy team. Earlier this month, Bo Hines, who led the White House Council of Advisors on Digital Assets and helped design the reserve framework, left his position.

His exit has prompted speculation about potential adjustments to the program’s scope and timing.

Mentioned in this article

What you need to know

• A user on Telegram posted a snapshot of a feature in testing for the Google Translate app known as “Practice.”
• Another tipster chimed in, diving into the app’s APK, discovering that users could find guided listening and speaking practices/quizzes for new languages.
• There’s no telling when this could arrive; however, the feature seems mostly put together, meaning we could be approaching its arrival.

There’s a new feature rumored for the Google Translate app that might take on some popular language learning apps (looking at you, Duolingo).

An APK teardown conducted by Android Authority after an alleged discovery by Telegram user Mehrad suggests Google Translate might get a new “Practice” button. According to the Telegram post, the company is seemingly working on a way for users to practice new languages, similar to Duolingo. Mehrad was able to screenshot a “Practice Spanish” menu, which displays the user’s goal (how well they want to speak), Daily Activities, and Words Practiced.

Also, it was nearly cut off, but there’s a button that says “create your own practice scenario,” which could come in handy if you’re trying to gauge your abilities in specific situations.

On the other hand, the publication, alongside tipster AssembleDebug, dove into the Translate app’s code to discover a new graduation cap icon representing “Practice.” Google’s tagline reads, “practice with AI-powered conversations.” The app gives several “recommended” scenarios, encompassing both listening and speaking practices. When listening, users are given an audio clip and asked to tap which words they recognize.

After it’s done, and you’ve seen how well you faired, the Translate app lets users adjust the difficulty of its generated scenarios.

When creating a pretend custom speaking scenario, the tipster highlights the ability for users to write their own situation or choose a recommended one. From there, users are presented with a selection of “tasks” to complete before getting the chance to speak into the app. There’s also a “proficiency” level users can select, which is how well they’re able to speak the language they want to learn. The post states there were options present for “Just Starting, Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced.”

The tipster also discovered a quiz function that’s created using “rounds.” From both Mehrad’s screenshot on Telegram and the tipster’s APK deep dive, it seems Google Translate’s language learning feature is nearly completed. There’s no telling when it could arrive officially, but perhaps it’s soon.

Breaking barriers

Earlier in June, we heard rumors about a design shakeup for the Google Translate app that could incorporate more features. The “more translations” header was discovered, giving users more insight into the other ways a word could be translated in other languages. Other additions, like “Regional Variants,” were discovered, as well as “Ask a question.”

Much of this has some of Google’s AI intelligence under the hood, helping users find the answers they’re after.

First-Time Bitcoin Buyers Have Increased Supply By 2.86%

In a new post on X, the on-chain analytics firm Glassnode has talked about the latest trend in the Bitcoin ‘First Buyers.’ This cohort is part of Glassnode’s broader investor classification system that is based on behavior. The First Buyers include, as the name already hints, the holders who are buying the cryptocurrency for the first time. The supply associated with the group, therefore, can be considered as a proxy of the fresh capital entering into the sector.

Other groups part of the behavioral classification include Momentum Buyers, the investors who ride the tide of price trends, and Conviction Buyers, who step in to buy during price declines.

Below is the chart shared by the analytics firm that shows the trend in the Bitcoin supply held by the First Buyers over the last couple of weeks.

As displayed in the graph, the Bitcoin First Buyers have seen their supply go up during the last two weeks, implying that fresh capital has potentially been entering the market. More specifically, the cohort’s holdings have gone from 4.77 million BTC to 4.91 million BTC in this period, corresponding to an increase of around 140,000 tokens or 2.86%. This is notable and suggests the price surge to the new all-time high (ATH) has attracted real demand.

In some other news, the Bitcoin Puell Multiple has been relatively muted even after the price rally, as an analyst has pointed out in a CryptoQuant Quicktake post.

The Puell Multiple is an indicator that keeps track of the ratio between the daily value of coins being ‘issued’ by miners on the blockchain (in USD) and the 365-day moving average (MA) of the same.

In short, the indicator informs us about whether the Bitcoin miners are currently making more revenue from block subsidy compared to the norm or not. Historically, the indicator shooting up to an extreme value has generally aligned with some sort of top for the cryptocurrency.

As is visible in the chart, the BTC Puell Multiple is currently sitting around 1.2, which means that miners are making more than the average for the past year, but not by too much. If the past trend is anything to go by, this may be a potential sign that the current cycle still has room for growth.

Something to note, however, is the fact that the indicator’s peaks have been trending lower with each cycle. Thus, it’s possible that the metric would also top out at a lower level of miner revenue this time around.

BTC Price

Bitcoin hasn’t been able to sustain recovery since its low as its price is still trading around $117,000.