The ETH Merge was the most awaited event in the crypto market as of September 15. Nevertheless, we could agree that the upgrade didn’t welcome positive sentiments for the leading alternative token. Data from crypto social analytic site LunarCrush showed that the hype that the Merge had before the implementation has Ethereum’s social activity rallying.
Moreover, Santiment confirmed that the Merge term dominated trends months before the platform’s transition. However, the coin’s social activity declined steadily after the event, and the resultant hype faded. Ethereum price wasn’t an exemption from the downturns. The altcoin welcomed Q4 hovering at $1,326.3, losing around 24% since the Merge (Coinmarketcap data).
What of Q4? On-Chain
Holders spent Q3 sessions sending Ethereum into exchanges. Santiment data showed a surge in the token’s exchange supply in the 3-month window. Surprisingly, the metric stopped its upward journey on September 15, resorting to a southbound move.
That showed Ethereum holders partook in the token distribution before the ETH Merge. That emerged from the uncertainty behind the transition’s success. Nevertheless, the successful completion saw token accumulation resuming. Furthermore, the ETH amount sent to exchanges declined gradually.
ETH price might witness upside reversals in the fourth quarter, considering the extended ETH exchange supply decline. Meanwhile, Ethereum shared a substantial correlation with BTC. Remember, many trust Bitcoin is yet to bottom amidst the bear markets.
Moreover, the MDIA (Mean Dollar Invested Age) index in Q3 indicated that previously dormant Ethereum tokens started moving wallets one month before ETH 2.0. while a drop in crypto’s MDIA confirmed substantial network activity and preceded price rallies, Ethereum saw the reverse.
Ethereum witnessed price plummets as the MDIA declined (indicating surged activity). Three weeks into the Merge had ETH on continued outflows as market players feared potential upgrade failure.
Moreover, dormant tokens moving addresses could have been traders sending long-held Ethereum tokens from their wallets. The MDIA kick-started uptrends after the Merge, confirming that dormancy returned to the Ethereum network.
The Ethereum Whales
Santiment showed primary whales holding 10,000 – 1,000,000 Ether tokens reduced their holdings gradually some days before the PoS migration. Nothing incentivized these whales to return following overall financial market turmoil and the crypto space crash. Moreover, retailers remained accountable for uptrends in ETH prices.