WTC pumps ahead of its mainnet launch - what does on-chain data say?

Waltonchain (WTC) has been on a steady climb all week, pumping by 29.5% ahead of its mainnet launch:

As a result, there has been a surge in WTC-related chatter recently, with over 320 new ‘WTC’ mentions recorded on crypto social media over the last 48 hours:

After more than 18-months on Ethereum, the project is ready to go at it solo, with “a fully operational mainnet“ now set to go live on April 24th (tho the project’s Mainnet was officially launched on March 31, 2018).

The last leg of the recent rally might be propelled by the April 19th update, detailing, among other things, staking rewards on the upcoming mainnet. Also, as per the blog post, more announcements from the project are likely to follow:

“Waltonchain will release a separate announcement on the details and time of the Mainnet Token Swap of WTC stored in exchange and personal wallet addresses.”

Looking at WTC’s recent on-chain data, we can see notable spikes in exchange-related activity in the days leading up to and even following the mainnet launch. Given the most recent spike (April 18th), it might indicate a similar pattern forming in anticipation of April 24th.

Furthermore, an additional 2.5% of WTC’s total circulating supply has entered exchange wallets over the last 40 days. The increased sell pressure, however, has done little to dissuade the price rise.

While a notable increase in the token’s supply on exchanges can have an adverse impact on price, mainnet launches and token swaps appear to be immune. For example, here’s the same graph for ZIL, another coin with an upcoming token swap, over the last 3 months:

Interestingly, the percentage of both tokens on exchange is almost identical as well.

Still, given the circumstances, it could be deemed natural for a high % of both ZIL and WTC to be found in exchange wallets at the moment. How the price will react if the percentage remains high even after the token swap remains to be seen, so these charts might warrant a revisit in about a months time. Watch this space.