Ethereum whales are hoarding coins as ETH/USD stays under $110.00

Ethereum dropped to $106.82 during early Asian hours before recovering to $107.13 by the time of writing. The third largest coin by market value stays under bearish pressure after a failed attempt to settle above $110.00 handle. ETH/USD recovered to $113.52 on Tuesday, but the upside momentum proved to be unsustainable.

Whales are not afraid

While Ethereum lost nearly 50% of its value in November, large investors know as whales continued accumulating coins in their wallets, undeterred by the cryptocurrency market collapse. According to the latest research, conducted by Diar, whale's wallets balances grew 80% since January (in ETH terms).

"Active trading whales have accumulated more in 2018 than any period in the Ethereum's history despite the ongoing bear market. November closed with whales sitting on a whopping 80% increase versus the start of the year. The tally now for the top ethereum actively trading addresses is a cool $2.3Bn, holding nearly a fifth of Ethereum's circulating supply. But on balance, big players have come and gone with overall whales holding as much as they did during peak."

The experts believe that whales increased their holdings as smaller traders left the market of Ethereum-based tokens.

Ethereum's technical picture

From the short-term perspective, ETH/USD is capped by $110.00 with SMA50 (1-hour) creating additional hurdle at $110.48. Once this area is cleared, the upside may be extended towards Tuesday's high at $113.52. No wonder that this level remained unbroken as it is guarded by SMA100 and SMA200 (1-hour) at $113.50 and $113.88 respectively.

On the downside, the first support is created by $106.82 Asian low). If it is cleared, the sell-off will gain traction with the next aim at $105.48 (Tuesday's low) and psychological $100. 

ETH/USD, 1-hour chart