Ethereum Price Surges Past $3,500, Smart Whale Swaps BTC to ETH Before Dencun Upgrade

Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency globally, has surged in the ongoing crypto market rally, marking a weekly gain of over 12% and surpassing the $3,500 mark. Presently, the Ethereum price is up by 1.4%, trading at $1,475, with a market capitalization of $416 billion. Over the last 24 hours, Ethereum trading volumes have surged by 43%, reaching over $16 billion.

Smart Whale Makes Move to Ethereum

Insights provided by on-chain data provider LookonChain reveal a notable shift in whale activity. This individual has transitioned from a bullish stance on Bitcoin ($BTC) to a bullish outlook on Ethereum ($ETH), marking a strategic pivot in their investment strategy.

According to LookonChain’s data, the smart whale executed a series of transactions to capitalize on their new bullish sentiment towards Ethereum. Initially, the investor swapped 1,500 ETH for 88.68 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), equivalent to approximately $4.58 million, at a rate of 0.05913 on February 26.

A smart whale changed from bullish on $BTC to bullish on $ETH!

He swapped 1,500 $ETH for 88.68 $WBTC($4.58M) at 0.05913 on Feb 26 to short the ETH/BTC pair.

Then swapped 88.68 $WBTC for 1,597 $ETH($5.57M) at 0.05554 today, making 97 $ETH($338K).https://t.co/ADQzYPd4pj pic.twitter.com/MhAZBwEv4w

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 4, 2024

Subsequently, the investor capitalized on the opportunity presented by the fluctuating market dynamics and reversed their position. They exchanged the 88.68 WBTC back to 1,597 ETH, valued at approximately $5.57 million, at a rate of 0.05554 today. This strategic maneuver resulted in a profit of 97 ETH, equivalent to approximately $338,000.

All Eyes On Dencun Upgrade

The entire crypto community has been awaiting the launch of the Ethereum Dencun upgrade which is just a few days away from now. The Dencun upgrade will revolutionize Ethereum by significantly reducing the cost and complexity of layer-2 transactions.

Once Dencun is launched and settlement contracts across all layer-2 networks are updated within a month or two, gas fees on most layer-2s are expected to decrease substantially—provided that networks pass on these savings to users.

This transformation is made possible by “blobs,” a new feature that will introduce a temporary method for data storage on Ethereum through proto-danksharding. Currently, storing data on Ethereum permanently is prohibitively expensive. With proto-danksharding, layer-2 data can be stored temporarily for approximately a month, offering the same level of security at a significantly lower cost.

Analysts are expecting that the ETH price can rally further to $4,000 upon the successful implementation of the Dencun upgrade. The primary crypto-related event this week revolves around the SEC’s impending decision on the Fidelity Ethereum spot ETF application. However, the consensus in the market is that it’s highly improbable for the application to be approved.