Whales acquire $72 million worth of Ether in only a few hours as the crypto market recovery continues

Data shows Ethereum whales snatched up more than 21,000 units of Ether (ETH) as the crypto market recovers.

The new year has not been kind to cryptocurrencies, which rose on Wednesday following a shift in market sentiment after weeks of sell-offs that briefly drove Bitcoin below $40,000.

According to data from research firm IntoTheBlock, Ethereum traders have purchased over 21,000 ETH in the last six hours as the cryptocurrency market recovers.

Hopium.

Analyzing $ETH Trades per Side indicator, buying activity has accelerated significantly over the past 90 minutes, coinciding with the price of #Ethereum reaching $3,300 again.

More than 16,000 ETH has been bought over the last 60 minutes.https://t.co/j32OLj1VLK pic.twitter.com/cpJTH8TwGD

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) January 12, 2022

The surge in buying activity was a long-awaited event for the market, which had been in a steep slump since December of last year. 

Before the recent recovery, Bitcoin had lost roughly 15% of its value, Etheruem had lost as much as 20%, and other big altcoins had lost even more since the start of the new year. 

Ether is currently trading at $3,359.75, down 31% from all-time highs, with a 24-hour trading volume of $18,611,122,683. In the previous 24 hours, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has gained 7.70 percent.