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The price of Ethereum has been a joy to watch since the start of 2024, climbing by more than 30% in less than two months. The latest on-chain revelation suggests that ETH investors are approaching the market with more confidence, as the cryptocurrency’s price rally seems to be far from over. $2.4 Billion Worth Of ETH Leaves Exchanges: CryptoQuant A pseudonymous analyst on CryptoQuant’s Quicktake revealed that significant amounts of the Ethereum token have been making their way out of exchanges in the last few weeks. This observation is based on the “Exchange Reserve” metric, which tracks the amount of ETH tokens in the wallets of all centralized exchanges. When the value of this metric increases, it implies that investors are making more deposits than withdrawals of an asset (Ether, in this case) into centralized exchanges. Meanwhile, the metric’s decline means that more assets are flowing out than entering these platforms. Related Reading: Bitcoin Wallets Bleed: 730K Investors Exit Despite Record $7 Billion ETF Inflows According to data from CryptoQuant, more than 800,000 ETH (equivalent to approximately $2.4 billion) has flowed out of cryptocurrency exchanges since the turn of the year. Typically, the movement of significant amounts of cryptocurrencies out of these platforms suggests a rise in investor confidence. Ethereum's exchange reserve | Source: CryptoQuant As the CryptoQuant Quicktake author noted, this reduction in Ether’s exchange reserve balance could be a bullish catalyst for the altcoin’s price. A sustained decline in the ETH’s supply on exchanges could trigger a supply crunch, potentially driving the Ethereum price higher. As of this writing, the Ethereum price stands at around $2,920, reflecting a 1.8% decline in the past day. Nevertheless, the “king of altcoins” is still in the green on the weekly timeframe, with an almost 5% price jump over the last week. Ethereum Price Rise Due To Anticipation Of Dencun Upgrade: Grayscale In a recent report, Grayscale has offered commentary on Ethereum’s positive price performance so far in 2024. The asset management firm tied ETH’s bullish trajectory to the upcoming Dencun upgrade of the Ethereum network. William Ogden Moore, Grayscale’s research analyst, wrote in the report: We believe that recent price performance reflects the market’s anticipation of this upgrade, as Ethereum (up 26% YTD) has outperformed the broader Smart Contract Platforms Sector (up 3% YTD) since January 1st, 2024. The Dencun upgrade, which is less than a month away, will aim to enhance Ethereum in terms of scalability and cost-effectiveness. It is also expected to help the network compete with “faster chains in the Smart Contract Platforms Crypto Sector, such as Solana.” Another narrative that may be propelling the price of ETH is the approval of Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. Interestingly, Grayscale is amongst the asset managers looking to debut an Ether spot ETF. Ethereum price at $2,923 on the daily timeframe | Source: ETHUSDT chart on TradingView Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView