Jump Trading Offloads More Ethereum as ETH Price Dumps 3.5% Daily

Crypto algorithmic trading platform and market maker Jump Trading has resumed its ether (ETH) sales, offloading more than 17,000 ETH worth over $46.44 million on Wednesday.

An X post by blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain disclosed that Jump Trading claimed the assets from the liquid staking protocol Lido and moved them out for sale in batches of 2,000 ETH.

Jump Trading Starts Selling ETH

Lookonchain said Jump Trading had 21,394 Wrapped Staked ETH (wstETH) worth approximately $68.58 million left, suggesting that the firm could execute more ETH sales in the coming days.

Jump Trading’s coin movements have triggered concerns about an incoming market dump among market participants. The crypto trading platform had maintained an ETH sale streak since July, pausing for a few days in early August to resume yesterday.

On August 5, Lookonchain reported that Jump Trading was selling 120,695 wstETH worth $481 million and had sold 83,000 wstETH valued at $377 million since July 24. Between July 24 and August 5, ETH lost over 33% of its value, declining from $3,400 to $2,200.

The blockchain analyst clarified at the time that the 120,695 wstETH Jump Trading sold had been recovered from attackers who exploited the Wormhole protocol, and the firm had about 37,604 wstETH worth $104 million left to sell.

ETH Going South

Shortly after the movements were made, they had little to no impact on ETH’s price action. However, the landscape changed later on as the crypto asset recorded a swift decline from $2,775 to $2,645 and was hovering around the level. With the market trading sideways currently, it remains to be seen how well ETH will absorb potential sales in the coming days and if there will be more pain around the corner.

Interestingly, Jump’s activities have also stirred talks of manipulation among market participants. Some community members think the fund movements could be for liquidity provision on exchanges, not sales, as Lookonchain stated.

Meanwhile, Jump Trading has been under investigation from U.S. authorities since mid-June. Sources familiar with the matter said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) was probing the market maker for its involvement in crypto and related trading and investment activities. The investigation was not deemed evidence of wrongdoing, and the CFTC has not yet announced any charges or allegations against the firm.