Ethereum’s Wild Ride: Will It Soar or Sink After Bybit’s Shocking Heist?

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Well now, gather ’round, folks, for a tale of Ethereum, that slippery little rascal! After a jolly good romp of over 5% last week, our dear friend ETH found itself strutting about at a sprightly $2,692. But hold your horses! The winds of fortune turned, and it opened the last week of February with a bearish frown.

With a market cap that could make a banker weep—around $324.52 billion—and a trading volume that would make even the most seasoned gambler raise an eyebrow at $21.81 billion, Ethereum took a tumble of over 3% on Monday, landing at about $2,725. It seems this altcoin has been caught in a weekly correction since early December 2024, like a cat stuck in a tree, with lower lows and lower highs to boot!

Now, if we peer through the looking glass of technical analysis, it appears that Ether is likely to revisit a crucial support level around $2,560 in the coming days. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is just lounging about, consolidating above a support level of $95.5k for the past three weeks, as if it’s waiting for the next big party.

Should Ether decide to breach that support range between $2,560 and $2.6K, we might just see a capitulation towards $2.2K. Oh, the horror! This would establish a horizontal channel with a range between $4K and $2.2K, setting the stage for the next major breakout. It’s like watching a soap opera, folks—full of drama and suspense!

But fear not! If Ether can muster the strength to consistently close above the resistance level around $2.8K, it might just aim for the stars at $3.3K, coinciding with the 2.618 daily Fibonacci extension. Who knew math could be so thrilling?

Accumulate $ETH #Ethereum before it’s too late..!!

— Captain Faibik 🐺 (@CryptoFaibik) February 24, 2025

Mixed Reactions from Ethereum Whales Following Bybit Hack

Now, let’s talk about the ruckus caused by last week’s Bybit hack, which left a staggering loss of over $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum units. On-chain data reveals a mixed bag of reactions from our whale friends. Over the weekend, the hacker—rumored to be the state-sponsored Lazarus Group—swapped over $100 million worth of stolen Ether for Bitcoin. Talk about a shady deal!

Bybit, in a fit of panic, announced that a coordinated effort led to the freezing of $42 million of the stolen assets. Meanwhile, on-chain data shows that Bybit went on a shopping spree, purchasing 266,694 Ether over the weekend, worth about $742 million. It’s like they’re trying to buy back their dignity!

It seems that #Bybit has bought 266,694 $ETH($742M) after being hacked.

0x2E45…1b77(related to #Bybit) bought 157,660 $ETH($437.82M) from Galaxy Digital, FalconX, Wintermute via OTC.

0xd7CF…A995(likely related to #Bybit) bought 109,033 $ETH($304.12M) from DEXs and CEXs.…

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 24, 2025

Meanwhile, the US spot Ether ETFs recorded a net cash outflow of 26 million last week amid low demand from institutional investors. It seems the big boys are sitting this one out!

Bigger Picture

Despite the short-term horizontal consolidation, Ethereum remains the belle of the ball, leading the charge in the mass adoption of Web3 protocols and digital assets. As of this very moment, the Ethereum network boasts more than $58 billion in total value locked (TVL) and over $122 billion

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2025-02-24 12:23