Ethereum (ETH) experienced a minor 1.1% drop on Wednesday, even as market conditions saw a slight improvement this week. The leading altcoin appears to be in a highly sensitive phase, largely influenced by aggressive buying from major investor groups. New analysis indicates that wallets holding between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH have collectively accumulated a balance exceeding 21 million ETH.
This represents an all-time high for this specific category of holders and a level not observed since the network's inception.
Ethereum Supply Plunging on Exchanges
The latest accumulation trend has been unfolding steadily over recent months, coinciding with Ethereum's gradual ascent toward the $2,956 level. This trend extends further, as holders possessing more than 100,000 ETH have also expanded their positions, bringing their total balance to approximately 4.3 million ETH. According to CryptoQuant, this increase reflects growing conviction among institutional-scale investors and other high-liquidity participants.
Concurrently, data from Binance reveals a continued drawdown of ETH held on the exchange. Reserves have been observed to be falling from September onward, reaching approximately 3.764 million ETH in November. This decline suggests a broad migration of ETH into staking contracts or offline storage, which further reinforces the accumulation wave identified across whale groups.
The analysis underscores that Ethereum's current market behavior remains closely tied to these shifts among large holders. Historical patterns have shown that periods of heavy whale accumulation typically precede the establishment of solid price bases, which have historically come ahead of significant upward price movements. With exchange supply tightening and deep-pocketed investors increasing their holdings, the data points to a crucial structural phase in Ethereum's long-term outlook.
OG Whale Bets Big on Ethereum
Further highlighting the heightened whale activity, Arkham has spotlighted a Hyperliquid "OG Whale." This trader previously profited nearly $200 million by shorting the market just before the October 10 crash. The intelligence firm reported that this individual has now become strongly bullish on ETH and has injected an additional $10 million into an existing long position, raising their total ETH longs to $44.5 million.
Within the first hour of this significant move, the position was already showing gains exceeding $300,000. The OG Whale has gained recognition over the past month for a series of precisely timed short positions. This pivot towards large-scale ETH longs suggests they may now be positioning for a substantial upward price movement.