Morgan Stanley analysts are pulling their Bitcoin price predictions below $13,000 with the bankruptcy of FTX. However, it looks like many centralized exchanges will follow the decline in the coming days. Let’s take a look at what’s next for the cryptocurrency market this week.
Investors move from exchanges to their own wallets
In the first days of the week, crypto investors panicked and pulled record amounts of Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins from exchanges. Separate reports show a sharp increase in hardware wallet sales as investors realize the importance of storing their portfolios in a cold wallet. However, if the “temporary suspension of deposits and withdrawals” messages from centralized exchanges continue to come, it seems that the flow from exchanges to cold wallets will continue.
With #Bitcoin simply flooding out of exchanges, we now have a ~5yr high in Sovereign Supply of 87.7% of the total.
All $BTC which flowed into exchanges since Jan 2018, has now been withdrawn.
Self-custody, and spot driven #Bitcoin markets are back on the menu. pic.twitter.com/Kqr36SBBJC
— _Checkɱate 🔑⚡🦬🌋☢️🛢️ (@_Checkmatey_) November 18, 2022
DEXs and DeFi platforms have seen an increase in entries
Simultaneously with the increase in DEX activity and record exits from exchanges, there was an increase in DeFi entries. After the events of the past two weeks, trust in centralized exchanges and crypto companies is waning. As a result, the next wave of crypto investors may adopt the more Web3-oriented DEX and DeFi protocols.
Constant streams of bad news can offer good opportunities for Bitcoin and Ethereum
At the moment, Ethereum’s price seems weak in terms of technical analysis. cryptocoin.com It contained a large amount of ETH in the funds stolen in the FTX hack you followed. It also includes some FUD for FTX and Alameda’s Ethereum-based protocols.
Top 10 addresses with the largest ETH holdings:
– 6 are CEX related wallets
– Jump Trading coming in third with just over 2M ETH
– @arbitrum bridge with ~750K ETH
– ETH Staking & WETH contract has over 19M ETH combinedHoping to see less CEXes on the list in a year pic.twitter.com/S1HHi5swnN
— Martin Lee | Nansen 🧭 (@themlpx) November 18, 2022
Meanwhile, it is still unclear when the Shanghai (Shanghai) update will take effect. In addition, investors’ concerns about when the staked coins might actually withdraw are also turning the short-term sentiment against Ethereum.
On the overall picture, Ethereum price held the support pretty well around $1,200-1,300 throughout bearish market developments. But will the above-mentioned potential challenges lead to a retest of the level? Analyst Big Smokey answers this question as follows:
Stakers are essentially spot long-term and that’s how they get their returns. Therefore, at this point, it would probably be rewarding to open a low short position by taking profit orders of $700-$600.
How much Bitcoin and Ethereum were lost in the FTX hack?
As of November 19, PeckShieldAlert posted a tweet stating that the main cryptocurrency wallet associated with FTX is holding 250,735.1 Ethereum. This amount of ETH is worth $302.6 million at the time of writing.
#PeckShieldAlert FTX Accounts Drainer 1 currently holds 250,735.1 $ETH (~$302.6M) & makes the address become the 27th largest holder of $ETH pic.twitter.com/YnEY6HPsLY
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) November 19, 2022
The most recent transactions involve an associated account that has exchanged over 44,000 BNB for 3,000 ETH and $7.5 million in stablecoins. These stablecoins were then exchanged for 6,200 ETH, according to EtherScan. This ended with a total of 9,200 ETH transfers to the main FTX drain wallet. Two other associated wallets have also transferred more than 10,000 ETH to the main wallet.
