There’s no doubt the 2018 bear market has been rough , but some cryptocurrency traders have been taking advantage. Actively trading whales have accumulated more Ethereum this year than at any other time in its history.

Blockchain research unit Diar analysed more than 5,200 Ethereum addresses to discover cryptocurrency whales who trade regularly are sitting on 80 percent more ETH than the start of the year.

In fact, these whales now own over 20 million ETH ($2.2 billion), roughly 20 percent of Ethereum’s circulating supply. This represents a four-fold increase in ETH held by top cryptocurrencers since January 2017, when they owned just 5 million ETH.

Token market collapse leads to exchange activity

Diar analysts attribute the collapse of cryptocurrency token markets as the primary driving force behind the sudden hoarding of Ethereum.

As an overwhelming majority of tokens are paired with ETH, it makes sense that exiting these markets leads to holding onto Ethereum instead.

Another effect is that Ethereum addresses belonging to cryptocurrency exchanges saw increased activity from Ethereum traders in November, particularly in the last two weeks.

In total, last month saw traders withdraw approximately $470,000 worth of ETH from top exchanges, while overall deposits exceeded 16 million ETH ($1.8 billion).

But “new money” from fresh-faced blockchain investors isn’t really responsible for the increased deposits.

Instead, Diar pointed out there are now 30 percent less Ethereum whales than in January. This means a more concentrated group of cryptocurrency investors is holding considerably more ETH than previous years.

ETH balances go up, value goes down

While the ETH balances of whales has certainly increased, the total value of those Ethereum accounts has dwindled.

At the start of the year, these whales controlled roughly 11 million ETH, worth $21 billion at the time.

Even though they own 80 percent more ETH, the total sum of whale holdings now reaches just $2.4 billion – an 89-percent drop in overall value since the end of January.

More ETH goes into whale addresses than comes out

It’s not all super bad news. The total net balance of deposits and withdrawals for the top Ethereum addresses is actually positive for the year.

Diar analysts concluded that roughly $1 billion has flowed into Ethereum whale wallets in 2018 and stayed there, with ETH received by whale addresses outweighing the ETH sent out out of them.

Over the past two months, top Ethereum addresses witnessed a 270 percent increase in ETH balances against the previous quarter. This is reportedly the first time this has been seen in almost two years.

But again, the firm noted this isn’t exactly indicative of new money pouring into Ethereum-based markets. Instead, it appears the funds are really being directed to the cryptocurrency whales. Typical .

Apple introduces a glorious Bitcoin glyph in iOS 12

It might not be the cryptocurrency emoji everyone has been asking for , but Apple has rolled not one, but two, dedicated Bitcoin glyphs in the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 12.

And dare I say – the aroma of mainstream adoption is in the air. Behold the Apple Bitcoin glyphs:

The glyphs are available as part of Apple’s new Shortcuts app (not to be mistaken with the Shortcut menu in settings) which allows Siri to complete complex tasks with simple voice commands.

The annoying part is that you will have to set up Siri before you can even browse the glyphs in the Shortcuts app.  Another issue is you can’t use glyphs as emoji – so if you were hoping to drop it frivolously in chats, you’re out of luck.

True Bitcoiners are probably already wondering: what’s up with the blue, is this glyph for Bitcoin (BTC) or Bitcoin Cash (BCH)? The answer is neither and both: you can adjust the color of glyphs individually.

Here’s an example of a green Bitcoin glyph (Disclaimer: this is not an endorsement of BCH):

Disregarding this time the Big A updated its developer guidelines to ban cryptocurrency mining apps from iPhones and iPads, the new Bitcoin glyph is the closest thing to a blockchain endorsement the Cupertino giant has ever done (alright, this is a bit hyperbolic).

Sarcasm aside, Apple has mostly withdrawn itself from the public cryptocurrency and blockchain debates. But considering the recent trend for corporates to experiment with the new technology, it will be interesting to see what the Apple effect can do for blockchain.

One more thing : go flaunt the Bitcoin glyph with pride.

SEC should keep rejecting all Bitcoin ETF proposals — at least for now

The cryptocurrency industry seems keen on exchange traded funds (ETFs) as the next big milestone to see increased mainstream trading for the digital assets.

Indeed, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a host of ETF proposals from different companies over the years. Unfortunately, the agency doesn’t seem convinced that cryptocurrencies are ready for ETFs yet.

The Winklevoss twins were the first to file a Bitcoin ETF proposal with the SEC back in 2013. The agency took its sweet time to make a decision, but finally rejected the proposal four years later. A second proposal from the Winlevoss twins was also rejected last month.

The SEC again rejected nine different proposals filed for Bitcoin ETFs earlier this week. It has agreed to review its decision, but as Reuters notes , review of judgement in a previous Bitcoin ETF case led to a three-to-one rejection anyway. So, it’s too soon to get excited about this development. I — for one — am not expecting the SEC to rule in favor of Bitcoin ETFs anytime soon.

The ETF proposals may have been filed with the SEC over a course of five years, but it has reiterated the same reasoning in rejecting all of them — possibility of market manipulation and lack of a regulated market of a significant size. Indeed, these are not just theoretical concerns.

Market manipulation remains one of the biggest worries in the cryptocurrency industry. A very small number of people own very large amounts of cryptocurrencies. According to Bloomberg, it is only 1,000 people (known as “whales” in the community) that own more than 40 percent of the Bitcoin in supply. Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, alone owns approximately 1 million BTC, nearly 5.88 percent of the total Bitcoin in circulation ($6.5 billion).

This is not true for just Bitcoin. In fact, most creators of cryptocurrencies retain a significant portion of the cryptocurrency with themselves. Ripple owns 60 percent of the total XRP supply, Blockne publicly owns 10 percent of all EOS tokens, and all companies raising initial coin offerings (ICOs) typically retain anywhere between 10 and 30 percent of their tokens.

This has led to worries about creators of cryptocurrencies themselves engaging in manipulating the market. Ripple is facing at least three lawsuits currently for accusations of market manipulation and securities law violation.

When you couple this with the paranoia that usually surrounds the cryptocurrency market, it gets worse. The regulation and market uncertainty in the industry means traders react hastily to every news that comes their way.

The Bitcoin’s market sees movement every time in speculation when the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox is about to move its cryptocurrency reserves. As per multiple reports , it was the Mt. Gox’s sell off of more than $400 million worth of Bitcoin between December 2017 to February 2018 that actually dropped the cryptocurrency’s price (a claim that a Mt. Gox. trustee has since denied ).

Yet, it is not this apparent manipulation that is the biggest challenge — it is what happens behind the scenes.

Take the case of the controversial USD-backed cryptocurrency Tether, for example. A research conducted at University of Texas at Austin indicated that the sharp increase in the cryptocurrency market in 2017 was caused by market manipulation on part of Bitfinex and Tether. This came months after the US CFTC subpoenaed Bitfinex and Tether in January. A report from Bloomberg also indicated tempering with Tether’s trading on Kraken cryptocurrency exchange desk.

It is evident that at every stage, there are indications of market manipulation with cryptocurrencies. As such, SEC’s concerns are not unfounded. The cryptocurrency community wants Bitcoin ETFs to lend legitimacy, but in truth, it has to be the other way around.

The companies proposing ETFs may themselves be regulated, but the overall Bitcoin industry isn’t. The US government can ensure proper regulation of cryptocurrency within the country, it can’t do so for others. After all, Bitcoin is traded globally without geographical restrictions — even in countries where it is illegal.

It is worth noting that Bitcoin and ETFs are against the essential principles of each other. The fact that Bitcoin is even seeking to enter such a regulated market is a significant change from the initial position of the community not wanting to do anything with governance. And ETFs can’t go along with an anonymous unregulated asset.

But if this change is to come, all cryptocurrencies (not just Bitcoin) have to be regulated globally — not just in the US. Till then, Bitcoin has to make do without ETFs.