Venture Capitals Bet on Ethereum Post-Shapella — ETH to $2K?

Key Takeaways:

• Large Venture Capital firms include ETH in their balance sheets, often in leading positions, expecting returns.
• On-chain metrics trigger bearish expectations in the short term.
• ETH technicals agree, but the long-term outlook remains bullish.

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – According to a Denmark-based DeFi researcher Thor Hartvigsen, the biggest Venture Capitals are betting on Ethereum, often putting the second-largest crypto in a leading position on their balance sheets, along with the biggest ETH 2.0 liquidity pool Lido (LDO).

VCs expect rewards after the Shapella upgrade.

The researcher posted a lengthy thread on Twitter claiming that Ethereum currently enjoys trust from large to small venture capitals (VCs). For example, Jump Crypto VC has $3.9 billion in ETH, while smaller firms like Paradigm opted for $195 million of ETH and $163 million of LDO.

Moreover, according to the crypto analytical platform TokenTerminal, Paradigm is also the single largest holder of LDO, with 70 million tokens in their wallet. Hartvigsen states, “They are soon finishing their $100 million LDO funding round, which means that they will hold $225m worth of LDO tokens (over 10% of circulating supply).”

Other VCs, like Genesis Trading, Wintermute, and DragonFly Capital, hold $252 million, $17 million, and $26 million in ETH, respectively. Ethereum and Lido DAO also take a leading position in the balance sheets of Blockchain Capital ($21.3 million ETH), Spartan Group ($3.8 million ETH, $2.7 million LDO), and Defiance Capital ($16 million in LDO, $3.2 million in ETH).

Generally, VC positions on crypto assets could predict retail investor behavior, as smaller players on the market often watch the larger player for cues. However, on-chain metrics and ETH technicals could also be instrumental in making ETH price predictions.

Also read: Ethereum Price Hits Uptrend Support, Can Bulls Save The Day?

Ethereum On-chain metrics bearish in the short-term

The Shapella upgrade (Shanghai+Capella) implemented the fork EIP-4895, enabling staked ETH withdrawal on April 12. The number of validators, i.e., holders of 32+ ETH coins, grew throughout 2022 despite ETH price fluctuations. However, after Shapella, many opted to withdraw.

As a result, staked Ether levels have dropped by $1.3 billion over the past week but eventually slowed. Moreover, Glassnode noted that the number of whale addresses holding over 100 ETH coins dropped to a 4-month low.

Also read: Ethereum (ETH) climbs over $2.1K despite $580M withdrawals – drop ahead?

As mentioned, some retail investors could follow the larger addresses’ lead and opt to sell. However, as of April 21, Ethereum led Defi projects in daily cumulative revenue in the previous 180 days despite the withdrawals.

ETH Technicals support an uptick to $2K

Ether value dropped 10% since April 19 and broke just below the $1,930 support in the European session on April 21. Moreover, the chart below showed a decline in trading volumes since mid-March, which could be an indicator of a looming decline in value, at least in the short term.

However, the Ethereum token traded in a technical pattern dubbed the ‘symmetrical triangle’ from May 2022 to January 2023. The setup entails two converging trendlines with a similar slope. The price action fluctuates between them, retesting the said lines consecutively.

Also read: Ethereum Price Drops Below $1.9K on Shanghai Fork Day — Will ETH Selloff Persist?

After a break in either direction, the symmetrical triangle forecasts a move equal to the maximal triangle height without specifying the bias. ETH broke the setup’s resistance on January 12. Thus, the leading altcoin’s target price would be approximately $2,300 in Q2/2023.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum token could drop to the next support at $1,840 before Sunday, April 23, fulfilling short-term predictions that don’t contradict the long-term bullish stance post-Shapella.