Ethereum (ETH) has rallied above the $3,300 mark, buoyed by a generally positive day across the cryptocurrency market. The token has continued to attract inflows from significant market participants, known as whales, and has also seen another substantial purchase from Bitmine.
ETH continues to experience considerable interest from large-scale investors, including whales, participating in both the spot and derivative markets.
ETH recovered above the $3,200 level after a short squeeze, which occurred after a period of rebuilding short liquidity. The token subsequently extended its gains to $3,342.21. This recent price movement resulted in approximately $36.3 million in long liquidations over the past 24 hours, with nearly half of these liquidations occurring on Binance.
The latest price action indicates a swift return to speculative trading, as traders initiated new positions shortly after the token displayed signs of a directional move. The open interest saw a spike within a brief timeframe, increasing from $17.6 billion to $18.5 billion. However, the fact that traders opened new positions on the short side suggests that the current rally might be short-lived.
Bitmine Allocates $1 Billion for Further ETH Acquisitions
Bitmine has announced its continued purchases of ETH over the past week, thereby expanding its treasury to a total of $12.05 billion.
The treasury company has $1 billion remaining to execute further purchases, following its acquisition of over 138,000 ETH last week. Bitmine has increased its treasury holdings by 13.8% in the last month and has resumed more frequent ETH purchases in December.
While treasury companies have generally slowed their buying pace, they have continued to add ETH to their balances in December. BMNR shares reacted positively to these developments, bouncing off their recent lows to reach $38.60, which is approximately in the middle of their trading range for the past few months. BMNR has secured its financing and is recognized as one of the consistent buyers of ETH.
Hyperliquid Whales Establish Significant Long Positions in ETH
Whales on the Hyperliquid platform have also taken prominent positions in ETH, currently holding substantial unrealized gains.
One notable whale, identified as the 1011 whale and previously known for shorting Bitcoin just before the October market downturn, has seen its unrealized gains expand from $3 million to over $18 million. This whale continues to pay fees exceeding $100,000 to maintain the position and has not closed it to realize profits.
On-chain data indicates that this whale currently holds the largest long position on Hyperliquid, with a notional value of $269 million.
The second-largest position is held by the 'Anti-CZ' whale, valued at $174 million, with unrealized gains exceeding $6 million. In third place is an established whale that rapidly invested in ETH, holding $1.6 million in unrealized gains. Machi Big Brother, another well-known trader on Hyperliquid, has also increased his ETH long position.
The recent price climb has eliminated most of the available ETH short liquidity, with only a few positions remaining up to the $3,400 level. This short squeeze could potentially be followed by a reversal, as ETH has accumulated significant long positions just above the $3,000 mark. At its current price range, ETH maintains support at the $3,000 level, in addition to the $2,800 range, which represents the cost basis for multiple whales.
The Ethereum fear and greed index has shown a rapid shift in sentiment, rallying from 51 points to 66 points within a few hours.