Two massive Ethereum transactions have just flowed out from FalconX, with Lookonchain linking them to ETH treasury company BitMine.

BitMine Has Received 48,049 Ethereum From FalconX

In a new post on X, on-chain sleuth Lookonchain has pointed out how BitMine appears to have acquired 48,049 ETH from a hot wallet connected to FalconX, an institutional digital asset trading platform.

The coins transferred through two transactions to two different wallets. The larger transfer involved 31,867 ETH, while the smaller one 16,182 ETH. In total, the tokens were worth about $140.58 million at the time that they were transacted.

The moves have come as Ethereum has plunged alongside the wider cryptocurrency sector, with its price dropping below the $3,000 level. Thus, it would appear possible that they are a sign of BitMine buying the dip.

Originally a Bitcoin mining-focused company, BitMine transitioned to being an Ethereum treasury vehicle under the leadership of chairman Tom Lee in June of this year. Since then, the firm has rapidly accumulated the cryptocurrency and has established itself as the “Strategy” of ETH.

On Monday, BitMine published a press release announcing that its holdings reached 3,967,210 ETH. So far, the company hasn’t made any official announcement of the latest buy, but if confirmed, it would take the total reserve past the 4 million ETH milestone.

The firm has set a target of 5% of the total circulating Ethereum supply. At present, the company still has some ways to go before this goal is hit, but at about 3.3% of the supply now sitting in its wallets, it has certainly made significant progress.

With holdings valued at more than $11 billion, BitMine is the second-largest cryptocurrency corporate holder in the world, only behind Strategy. Unlike Michael Saylor’s firm, however, the Ethereum hoarder has its treasury sitting in the red right now. Nonetheless, if the two blockchain transactions correspond to purchases, then it’s a sign that BitMine is still committed to accumulating more.

CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn has talked in an X post about how the Ethereum price has changed since BitMine started its accumulation spree. It’s visible in the chart that during the initial buying period, ETH witnessed some rapid growth.

Clearly, however, despite continued buying from the treasury company, the asset’s price first flatlined and then declined. “Big buys ≠ sustained momentum,” noted the analyst.

ETH Price

Ethereum managed to make a recovery to $3,400 last week, but the coin has once again gone through bearish momentum since then, as its price has returned to the $2,930 level.

On Tuesday, the Ethereum price experienced a notable surge, climbing by 6.5% and reclaiming the critical $3,300 mark for the first time in nearly a month. This has allowed Ethereum to outpace its peers among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, showcasing a nearly 12% recovery for the leading altcoin over the past week.

ETH Grows In Demand 

Analysts from Bull Theory attribute this resurgence to several key factors, including significant institutional interest in Ethereum. The firm highlighted BitMine, which holds the largest public company collection of ETH, as a major player in this recovery phase. 

In a recent social media update on X (formerly Twitter), the analysts pointed out that demand for ETH is on the rise as Wall Street quietly builds on the Ethereum platform.

Notably, major financial institutions are beginning to make substantial moves in the Ethereum space. BlackRock, which manages $13.5 trillion, is launching tokenized funds and has filed for a staked Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF). 

Other notable players include JPMorgan with $4 trillion in assets, Deutsche Bank at $1.1 trillion, and Standard Chartered with $800 billion. These firms are developing tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure specifically on Ethereum and its Layer 2 (L2) solutions.

In addition, well-known financial entities such as Amundi, HSBC, BNY Mellon, Coinbase (COIN), Kraken, and Robinhood (HOOD) are incorporating Ethereum into their operations for functions like custody, settlement, and rollup infrastructure. 

As a result, these large companies are holding and staking ETH to generate yield, significantly increasing the altcoin’s demand. BitMine, for instance, anticipates earning over $400 million annually from its staking position.

Could The Ethereum Price Hit $12,000?

Such institutional involvement has led market experts like Tom Lee to speculate that the Ethereum price could potentially reach $12,000 by 2026, driven by growing staking demand and the scaling of tokenization efforts. 

Adding to the momentum, Arkham reported that Tom Lee’s Ethereum treasury firm acquired 138,452 ETH since last week, valued at approximately $431.97 million. BitMine currently holds $12.05 billion in ETH and has an additional $1 billion allocated for further purchases. 

In a different development that could bolster the Ethereum price further, Chris MacDonald, an analyst for The Motley Fool, highlighted reports indicating that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) confirmed US banks can now legally conduct “riskless principal” transactions in crypto assets. 

The analyst asserted that this new regulatory approval may lead to an influx of capital into digital assets, which would likely benefit the Ethereum price and holders, as well as other top cryptocurrencies.

As of this writing, the Ethereum price is trading at $3,325. Despite recent gains, the price is still nearly 33% below the all-time high of $4,946, which was reached earlier this year. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com