Ethereum whales predict bloodbath in the altcoin bet on ETH price decline below $400

• Ethereum network’s large wallet investors are betting on ETH price drop to the $400 level via put options. 
• An order has been placed for 26,000 ETH put options with a strike price of $400, the options expire on June 30, 2023. 
• ETH price needs to break past resistance between the $1,300 and $1,400 level to break out of its downtrend. 

Ethereum, the second-largest asset by market capitalization, is at the risk of decline. Based on options data, ETH is likely to plummet in the first half of 2023. Analyst retain their bearish outlook on the asset. 

Also read: Here’s why Ethereum Classic witnessed a massive rebound in its price with hashrate simulation

Ethereum whales are bearish on the altcoin

Large wallet investors on the Ethereum network expect ETH price to plummet to the $400. Colin Wu, a Chinese journalist recently shared details of a large order of 26,000 ETH put options with a strike price of $400, with an expiration date of June 30. 

This implies whales expect the altcoin’s price to plummet in the first half of 2023. Traders believe this is tail management behavior of crypto whales. 

BloFin data on Ethereum whales 

@TeddyCleps, an analyst and trader, argues Ethereum has been testing and retesting resistance for eight months. ETH continuously failed to break it and the current uptrend is unsustainable and the altcoin is likely to get past its support. 

There are two likely scenarios in Ethereum. In the first scenario, ETH price hits the $1,280 level and in the second $1,480 is the target for the altcoin. 

ETH/USDT price chart

Ethereum ecosystem developers on the first All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) call agreed to “tentatively” set the timeline for Shanghai for March 2023. The next ACDE call will go live on January 19 and Ethereum’s Shanghai hard fork is the first radical change on the network post the transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.

The number of Ethereum validators is set to surpass 500,000 in 2023. Based on on-chain metrics, Ethereum’s issuance rate of new coins has dropped considerably. The network has been operating under PoS consensus algorithm for over three months and the community is anticipating the Shanghai hard fork and the ETH token unlock.