Ethereum (ETH) — the cryptocurrency that unleashed smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) on the world — lost over 20% of its price today.
According to CoinMarketCap data, Ethereum has seen its price fall by well over 20% from over $2,900 down to a low of under $2,200. As of press time, ETH’s price is approaching $2,400 after a brief upward price correction.
Blockchain analytics firm Spot On Chain reported that trading company Jump Trading moved $46.78 million to a centralized exchange over the past 24 hours. The company is still in possession of DeFi Ethereum liquid staking derivatives: wstETH worth $101 million and stETH worth $26.3 million.
Liquid staking derivatives are tokens representing coins locked in staking protocols to generate a return rate. This allows for those stakes to be traded and the indirect sale of the locked tokens as well as the revenue they generate.
[Update] Jump Trading moved another net amount of 17,576 $ETH ($46.78M) to CEX in the past 24 hours!
This solely came from their existing $ETH holding.
Their remaining 37.6K $wstETH ($101M) and 11.5K $STETH ($26.3M) still remain in their wallet and under the unstaking process… https://t.co/fNn4RKejgf pic.twitter.com/Koab3o8ybV
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) August 5, 2024
Why did Ethereum crash?
Julian Hosp, the CEO of crypto investment platform Bake.io, suggested that Jump Trading’s actions may be the reason behind today’s crypto sell-off. He wrote in an Aug. 4 tweet:
The reason for the crazy crypto sell off seems to be Jump Trading, who are either getting margin called in the traditional markets and need liquidity over the weekend, or they are exiting the crypto business due to regulatory reasons (Terra Luna related). The sell-off is relentless atm.
Major cryptocurrency personalities saw their holdings take a major hit. Spot On Chain reported that Tron (TRX) co-founder Justing sun lost about $280 million.
As of press time, blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence shows that Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin lost about $138 million. This is to be expected considering that the near totality of Buterin’s being ETH alone. This translates to a loss of 24.17%.
The portfolio of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, on the other hand, lost just $765,000 and has fallen down to $5,31 million. This is equivalent to a loss of 12.58%.
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