In the past week, the crypto market experienced a general uplift as Bitcoin surged above $100,000 for the first time since early December. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Ethereum gained by 7.25% spurring a return to the $3,500 price zone. Interestingly, more market developments are pointing to a long-term bullish future for the altcoin.
Ethereum Merge Sparks Mega Increase In Whale Holdings
In a recent X post by crypto analytics firm IntoTheBlock, the Ethereum network has recorded a massive rise in whales’ reserves over the past two years. Generally, whales are wallet addresses that hold a substantial amount of a token, typically over 10,000 ETH for the Ethereum network. Whales are important due to their large holdings which could allow them to influence market trends.
According to IntoTheBlock, the Ethereum whales‘ balance has surged from 22% of the coin’s supply in early 2023 to a current value of 43%, indicating about a 100% gain in 24 months.
So far, the blockchain analytics firm has linked this accumulation spree to the Ethereum Merge that occurred in September 2022. For context, the Merge, considered a historic event, allowed the Ethereum mainnet to integrate with the Beacon Chain transforming it into a fully functional proof-of-stake blockchain.
The Merge offers many benefits in terms of potential for sharding to ease network traffic, environmental friendliness, and importantly staking, as it allowed long-term Ethereum investors to finally withdraw their staked rewards. IntoTheBlock postulated that in particular, whales found this upgraded staking feature attractive resulting in the accumulation surge since 2023.
In backing this notion, data from beaconcha.in shows that staked ETH has grown from 15,804,310 ETH in January 2023 to 33,898,981 ETH in January 2025 indicating a 114.49% gain in the same period during which a surge in whale accumulation has occurred.
In terms of their ability to influence market trends, whale transactions are viewed as trading signals by smaller, retail investors. Thus, a strong accumulation pattern by ETH whales, as currently reported, is a robust bullish signal supporting the altcoin’s long-term profitability.
ETH Price Overview
At the time of writing, Ethereum trades at $3,460 reflecting a 2.65% gain in the past 24 hours. However, the coin’s trading volume is down by 3.33% and valued at $26.11 billion.
According to its daily trading chart, Ethereum is currently headed for a major price resistance at $3,700. If it surpasses this, it may rise further to around $4,000. With a market cap of $422.34 billion, Ethereum remains the second-largest cryptocurrency and altcoin in the world.
