Ethereum Rallies Toward $3,400 as Whales Accumulate $3.15B and Selling Pressure Eases

• ETH rises 8.5% as whales and sharks add $3.15 billion while retail reduces modest holdings.
• Analyst cites hidden bullish divergence, with firm RSI and MACD signalling an Ethereum move towards $4,958.
• Ethereum fees fall by 62% as layer-2 expands and ETH/BTC ratio reaches October levels.

Ethereum advanced on Tuesday, jumping about 8.5% to trade near $3,350. The move lifted the second-largest cryptocurrency to its strongest level since mid-November, testing resistance around $3,400. At the same time, bitcoin briefly climbed above $94,000 as markets priced in a possible 0.25% US Federal Reserve rate cut on Wednesday.

Ethereum Breaks Out of a Correction Trend as Whales Add to Holdings

Ethereum moved out of a 60-day falling wedge pattern and turned its structure upward again. The price recovered from around $2,621 to above $3,300 while forming two higher lows on the daily chart. Moreover, ETH reclaimed the 20-day and 50-day exponential moving averages, which now sit below the current trading range.

Source: TradingView

Momentum tools on the chart also turned in favor of further strength. The daily RSI bounced from near 30 in November to around 57 this week. At the same time, the MACD line turned higher, and the histogram flipped green after spending weeks below the zero line.

Whale and shark wallets accumulated about 934,240 ETH, worth roughly $3.15 billion, during the past three weeks. Meanwhile, smaller retail wallets moved in contrast and reduced holdings by about 1,041 ETH over the last week. This divergence shows large on-chain wallets added during the pullback, while smaller wallets cut exposure.

Analyst Eyes Upside as ETH/BTC Ratio Rises to Multi-Week High

The ETH/BTC pair now trades near 0.0358 on the daily chart, its highest level since late October. After forming support close to 0.032 in November, the ratio has climbed steadily and erased much of Ethereum’s earlier lag. 

This upturn in the ETH/BTC ratio usually means ETH is rising faster or falling more slowly than bitcoin during pullbacks. Moreover, the second-largest cryptocurrency climbed close to $3,400, gaining 8.4% over the past 24 hours, while bitcoin rose 4.5%.

Also Read: Is Ethereum About to Outperform Bitcoin? 3 Indicators Say Yes

Technical analyst Javon Marks also cited a hidden bullish divergence on Ethereum’s chart. In a post on X, Marks wrote that ETH is “showing notable strength” and that it “could be only a start of a much larger recovery and continuation move.” He added that prices “look positioned for a more than 50% climb back to $4,958.75” and that, once reached, the $8,500+ region could “be in play.”

Ethereum Network Fees Drop 62% While Layer-2 Activity Expands

Ethereum’s base layer recorded weaker activity even as the price rallied. Nansen data showed a 62% decline in 30-day network fees, a deeper slide than those seen on Tron, Solana or HyperEVM in the same period.

Moreover, DEX volumes on Ethereum dropped from around $23.6 billion over seven days to about $13.4 billion and DApp revenue fell to a five-month low near $12.3 million.

However, activity on Ethereum’s scaling networks moved higher, pointing to demand on layer-2 infrastructure. Base saw roughly 108% growth in transactions, while Polygon posted an 81% increase. Moreover, the Fusaka upgrade on December 3 improved rollup efficiency and is expected to lower base-layer and Layer 2 fees.

Also Read: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Altcoins Face Mixed Week While TRON Surges to 350 Million Accounts