The Chinese crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry has taken another victim – this time, the Ethereum mining pool Sparkpool.

The second-largest ETH mining pool – Sparkpool – has announced that it has halted access to new users in Mainland China. Furthermore, the organization plans to abandon all of its services as of September 30th.

• Based in Hangzhou, China, Sparkpool is the second-largest Ethereum mining pool responsible for more than 20% of the total hash rate, as the picture below demonstrates.

• However, the company plans to seize all operations due to the most recent Chinese crackdown. The announcement published earlier this week reads that it has suspended access to new users who are located in Mainland China as of September 24th.
• This part might be expected to a large extent because of the nation’s openly hostile stance against the cryptocurrency industry. The latest news coming from the country indicated that all digital asset trading is banned.
• This forced Huobi, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, to stop providing any of its services to Chinese users.
• However, Sparkpool has decided to take it a step further. The statement reads that a “complete shutdown for all Sparkpool services and operations for the existing users, at home or abroad, has been planned for September 30th, 2021 (UTC +8) at 20:00.”
• The company argued that this decision comes “under the premise of ensuring the safety of our users’ assets.”
• Sparkpool promised to provide more specific information on clearing and refunding rules in upcoming announcements through emails and in-site letters.
• The closure of the second-largest ETH mining pool would most likely lead to damages to Ethereum’s hash rate. The metric, which is crucial for the network’s security, recently reached a new ATH, but it might drop in the following few weeks.

News Source

• Ethereum price analysis is bullish today.
• ETH/USD continued to move higher overnight.
• ETH is likely to pause before breaking higher.

Ethereum price analysis is bullish today as bulls pushed the market price to the $3,150 resistance after a strong rally yesterday. Therefore, we expect ETH/USD to break higher later today and finally set a new higher high.

The overall market traded with a bullish momentum over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin is up by 1.6 percent, while Ethereum has gained 4.47 percent. Meanwhile, Solana (SOL) is the best performer today, with a gain of 10 percent.

Ethereum price movement in the last 24 hours: Ethereum tests $3,150 previous high

ETH/USD traded in a range of $2,976.34 – $3,163.67, indicating a substantial amount of volatility over the last 24 hours. Trading volume has declined by 13.33 percent and totals $18.85 billion, while the total market cap trades around $365.4 billion, resulting in the market dominance of 18.75 percent.

ETH/USD 4-hour chart: ETH ready to set higher high?

On the 4-hour chart, Ethereum price action can be seen to look for a breakout above the previous high of $3,150 as bulls have regained control.

The overall market continued to trade in a bearish momentum last week. After a new lower high was set around $3,650, ETH/USD dropped more than 25 percent until support was found around $2,750.

What followed was a reaction higher, with the previous major support of $3,150 retested as resistance. What followed was another spike lower on Friday, with a slightly higher low set this time.

Yesterday, the $2,750 support was tested for the third time, with a subsequent rally to $3,150 resistance over the last 24 hours. Overall, we can expect exhaustion for bearish momentum, likely leading the Ethereum price higher over the next 24 hours.

Ethereum Price Analysis: Conclusion 

Ethereum price analysis is bullish for today as bulls pushed higher overnight, and the $3,150 resistance currently gets tested. Therefore, ETH/USD should see further upside above the $3,150 resistance later today.

While waiting for Ethereum to move further, read our guides on NFT Games, CoinJar, as well as Bitcoin Memes.

News Source

Ethereum is being moved away from centralized exchanges, and DeFi might be one of the reasons

According to data presented by Santiment, 1/3 of the circulating Ethereum supply has been moved from exchanges to personal wallets. From Sept. 26, 2020, to this day, the circulating supply has been reduced from 24% to 16%, totaling an 8% loss in a year. The main reason for such a trend is the update of the coin’s network and a rapid price increase.

Ethereum price increase

Accumulation periods usually accelerate after the price of an asset has rapidly increased, which makes investors move funds away from the exchange since they are not willing to sell them. Traders usually hold money on exchanges whenever they are willing to sell their assets.

Since Sept. 2020, when exchange supplies have started to decrease, the Ethereum price has risen by almost 1,000%, with the average entry being $1,800-$2,000 on the network. The majority of Ethereum holders are currently holding their coins with a 69% profit.

The period of accumulation is considered over after on-chain data started reflecting a rapid exchange inflow increase. Usually, after the accumulation period is replaced by spending cycles, the price of underlying assets drops significantly.

Alternative investment options presented

Compared to the previous 2017 bullrun, Ethereum has stepped further in development with the announcement of various alternative investment options like liquidity provision and lending. That is why, in some cases, investors choose to reinvest their coins rather than keeping them on exchanges or selling them.

The total value locked in the DeFi industry is currently staying at $85 billion, with a $95 billion TVL ATH reached on Sept. 6. The current trend indicates that Ethereum holders prefer holding their assets in either personal wallets or DeFi smart contracts, rather than exchanges.

News Source