Ethereum has been facing a challenging period, with its price falling by nearly 10% over the past week. The cryptocurrency briefly surpassed the $1,900 mark but was unable to maintain momentum and is fighting to remain above it now.

This price drop follows a broader trend of market volatility, which has raised concerns about its price trajectory. This decline in price may be linked to shifting investor sentiment, as on-chain data suggests a notable reduction in large Ethereum transactions.

Ethereum Whales Are Pulling Back

According to crypto analyst Ali Martinez’s latest findings, there has been a significant decline in large Ethereum transactions since February 25, with a reported drop of 63.8%. This decrease was indicative of a notable reduction in whale activity on the network, which suggests that large-scale investors may be pulling back or reallocating their holdings. Interestingly, whales sold 760,000 ETH in the last two weeks alone.

This downturn in whale activity coincides with the actions of a long-term Ethereum holder who recently liquidated their remaining assets.

Lookonchain’s update revealed that an Ethereum OG sold their remaining 2,001 ETH, which is worth around $3.82 million, on April 2nd. The investor originally purchased 5,001 ETH for $1.38 million at $277 per coin back in 2017 and held through Ethereum’s bull run, even when prices soared to $4,878.

Over the past month, however, they began selling and realized a total profit of $8.66 million in the process. At its peak, the investor’s unrealized gains reached as high as $23 million.

All Eyes on Pectra’s Mainnet Launch

Despite the successful finalization of Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade on the Hoodi testnet, the network has struggled to maintain a meaningful rally. Now, all eyes are on the highly anticipated upgrade on mainnet, which combines improvements from the Prague and Electra proposals. It is set to go live on the Ethereum mainnet on April 30, with a tentative activation scheduled for slot 11,599,872.

There is still optimism that the mainnet launch could generate renewed investor interest and potentially trigger a more significant price movement. The timeline for the upgrade is still subject to final approval, with confirmation expected at the next All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) meeting.

According to a report from earlier today, US President Donald Trump has informed those closest to him that Tesla’s CEO and current D.O.G.E. leader, Elon Musk, will step back from his political role.

The relationship between the two has gone through a few ups and downs in the past year or so, but the report claims Musk has become a political liability.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Politico indicated that people from Trump’s administration have become frustrated with Musk’s recent behavior and his unpredictability.

A senior administration official believes Musk will keep an informal role as an adviser and continue to occasionally appear in the White House. Another one said people who believe Musk will disappear completely from the White House landscape are “fooling themselves.”

Musk’s leadership of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) has led to some controversial results. While the actual slashed spending numbers are still debated, people who have felt the consequences have turned against Musk, and some of his businesses have felt it.

Previously, a Trump administration official outlined Musk’s value and noted that there’s no end in sight for his political role.

Interestingly, today’s report acted as a propeller for BTC gains. The asset stood below $85,000 but shot up to a multi-day peak of just over $87,000 when the news broke.

Musk has had a long history with the cryptocurrency industry, often influencing big price moves with some of his comments. Trump has become the first supportive US president of BTC and (some) altcoins but both the crypto and stock markets reacted well to Musk’s potential departure.

However, more volatility is expected later today when Trump’s new tariffs will be announced in what he calls ‘Liberation Day.’

TL;DR

• MEW outperformed the leading meme coins, surging by double digits on a daily scale.
• Its pump occurred shortly after the asset’s inclusion on Binance Alpha.

MEW Climbs the Ladder

The meme coin sector has seen better days, with many tokens experiencing declines in the past 24 hours. PEPE has fallen by 2%, FLOKI (FLOKI) is down 2.5% for the day, while Shiba Inu (SHIB) has retraced by 3.5%.

However, some have charted substantial gains. An evident example is Cat in a Dogs World (MEW), whose price has jumped by almost 15% on a daily scale.

Currently, it is worth roughly $0.003077, which is the highest mark observed in the past six weeks. Its market capitalization surged above $270 million, making MEW the 14th-biggest meme coin. 

Its upswing could be attributed to Binance, which recently placed the asset in its Binance Alpha section. The latter is a platform part of the exchange’s ecosystem designed to spotlight crypto projects with growth potential. It serves as a pre-listing token selection pool and could be followed by official inclusion in the trading venue. 

Despite its recent revival, MEW stands far from its peaks registered in 2024. Last year, the meme coin garnered significant attention from investors, while the popular exchanges that allowed trading services with it include OKX, Upbit, Kraken, Bybit, Gate.io, and others.

MEW reached an all-time high of around $0.012 in November 2024, and since then, it has been on a significant downfall. Back then, its market capitalization stood above $1 billion, coinciding with an overall boom of the entire meme coin niche. 

The Binance Effect in the Past

Support from the world’s largest crypto exchange often positively affects the price of the involved assets due to increased liquidity and boosted accessibility. Last week, it included the meme coins Mubarak (MUBARAK), CZ’s Dog (BROCCOLI714), Tutorial (TUT), and Banana for Scale (BANANAS31) in its Binance Simple Earn section.

Some of the assets witnessed a significant rally shortly after the announcement. TUT was the best performer, recording an impressive 130% price explosion. 

A similar case was observed in December last year when Binance added further support for the meme coin launched on the BNB chain – Simon’s Cat (CAT). The asset’s valuation soared by 50% mere hours after the disclosure.