Justin Sun Acquires $5M in ETH in Anticipation of Ethereum ETF Launch Amidst Decreasing Proposal Amendments by the SEC

Justin Sun's Latest Ethereum Acquisition

In the midst of ongoing market turbulence, the Ethereum (ETH) price is demonstrating resilience and maintaining stability despite a slight decline in the past week.

There is significant whale activity surrounding Ethereum, with Tron founder Justin Sun attempting to absorb the substantial selling pressure in anticipation of the forthcoming approval of a spot Ethereum ETF, which is rumoured to be imminent within the next few weeks.

According to on-chain data provider Spot on Chain, Sun expended a total of $5 million in USDT to purchase 1,614 ETH at a price of $3,097 per token.

Justin Sun on Ethereum Shopping Spree

Sun has been on an Ethereum accumulation drive since the start of the year.

Spot on Chain reports that since 8 February, Sun has amassed a total of 362,751 ETH across three different wallets, representing an estimated total investment of $1.1 billion, with an average purchase price of $3,047 per ETH.

In addition to these acquisitions, Spot on Chain also observed that Sun recently transferred 45 million USDT to Binance, hinting at the potential for further Ethereum purchases.

This significant whale accumulation has been occurring just ahead of the anticipated approval of a spot Ether ETF, which is expected to take place before the end of July.

Justin Sun Not the Only One Contributing to Ethereum Whale Activity

While Sun has been actively acquiring Ethereum from exchanges, there have also been substantial ETH deposits occurring recently.

Over the past 24 hours, the Golem Project emerged as one of the significant depositors of ETH into the crypto exchange Binance.

However, on-chain data indicates that they have ceased selling ETH and have instead staked a total of 40,000 ETH.

Furthermore, Elwood Technologies has deposited 26,811 ETH, valued at over $84 million, into Binance within the last three days.

It is noteworthy that addresses associated with Elwood also withdrew 24,463 ETH from Binance during the same period.

Despite this considerable whale activity, the price of ETH has maintained a strong position above $3,000.

Technical indicators suggest that Ethereum may have already reached its bottom, indicating potential for recovery or stabilisation.

$66M Alleged Loss

In the aftermath of a broad crypto market downturn on Friday, Ethereum's price suffered a significant decline of approximately 10%.

Although the leading altcoin has since staged a modest recovery, its price drop has unveiled critical insights into the holdings of Sun.

Amidst the market turmoil, blockchain analytics platform Spot on Chain published a report detailing Sun's investments in Ethereum.

The Tron founder is reported to have made these investments through three distinct wallet addresses, acquiring 169,604 ETH with "0x7a9" in February at an average price of $2,870, 176,118 ETH with "0x435" in April at $3,177, and 15,416 ETH with "0xdbf" in June at $3,474.

Spot on Chain observed that these addresses consistently received ETH deposits from Binance following Sun's stablecoin deposits on the exchange, leading to speculation that the Tron founder is the owner of these wallets.

Following the repayment of creditors by the now-defunct Mt. Gox exchange and the persistent large-scale Bitcoin sell-offs by the US and German governments, Bitcoin's price fell by 10% over the past week, reaching a low of $53,717.

Bitcoin's price is trading at $58,150.63, a 1.09% decrease in the last 24 hours.

This decline has unsurprisingly rippled through the crypto market, with Ethereum experiencing a similar percentage drop to trade at $2,810—its lowest price in the last five months.

At this point, Sun's alleged ETH investments were marked by a $66 million loss.

Intriguingly, the Tron founder had approached the German government on Thursday to discuss the private purchase of their remaining BTC holdings, valued at $2.3 billion.

The intention behind this move appears to be an attempt to mitigate the impact of their continuous BTC sell-offs on his personal investments and the broader crypto market.

It remains to be seen whether the German government will entertain this offer.

As of the latest updates, Ethereum has demonstrated resilience, rebounding from its earlier slump with a rise of about 1.25% to currently trade at $3,126.81 in the last 24 hours. https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/

Could ETH Outshine BTC?

As the launch of spot Ethereum ETFs nears, divergent predictions have surfaced.

While some analysts forecast a bearish trend for ETH's price, others anticipate a parabolic rally.

On 9 July, an anonymous analyst on X Follis speculated that the Ethereum ETF could trigger a price movement in ETH akin to Bitcoin's surge from $26,000 to an all-time high of $73,750 between 2023 and 2024.

At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $3,126.81.

The analyst posits that ETH could reach $9,324 within a year. Such a prediction hinges on a substantial increase in demand.

Contrasting with recent whale activity, Spot On Chain reported on 10 July that a significant accumulation of ETH worth $50.30 million had occurred, marking the first major accumulation since discussions about the Ethereum ETF's impact began.

This is in contrast to a few days prior when a whale sold $12 million worth of ETH.

Additionally, Glassnode data indicates that Ethereum whales have shifted from distribution to aggressive buying, as evidenced by the rising number of addresses holding at least $1 million worth of ETH.

This figure increased from 14,217 on July 7 to 14,823, suggesting growing demand and optimism surrounding the ETF approval.

ETH has experienced a more pronounced correction than BTC, declining by 24.65% from 28 May to 9 July, compared to Bitcoin's 19.43% fall.

Historically, deeper corrections have paved the way for higher prices.

The daily ETH/USD chart currently displays a double bottom formation, often indicative of a potential bullish reversal.

The last time ETH formed a similar pattern was in January 2024, followed by an 81.94% increase to $4,067 three months later.

If history repeats, ETH could trade around $5,625 by the end of September.

For the short term, ETH's outlook remains bullish if bulls can defend the $2,934 level, potentially leading to a resistance zone at $3,555.

An ETF launch within the next week or two could see ETH attempting to breach $3,758.

However, a lackluster market response post-launch could result in a price decline.

Missing Detail in Proposals

The imminent launch of US spot ether ETFs has left many investors eagerly awaiting details on the fees they will incur.

These fees are expected to be disclosed in the final registration statements, or S-1s, which will be submitted once the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gives the green light for trading to commence.

Industry insiders have hinted that this approval could come as early as this week.

In the competitive ETF landscape, fee structures are a critical aspect of fund offerings.

However, having the lowest fee does not always equate to dominance in asset gathering.

As the SEC's review process nears completion with fewer amendments being requested, the launch of spot Ether ETFs appears to be on the horizon.