Large Ethereum holders have been steadily accumulating ETH over the past month, even as retail investors continue to cash out amid sideways market movement.
According to a June 13 post by analytics firm Santiment, wallets holding between 1,000 and 100,000 ETH—classified as whales and sharks—have collectively added 1.49 million ETH (valued at $3.79 billion) in the last 30 days, marking a 3.72% increase in their holdings.
“Over the past month alone, these key whale and shark wallets have rapidly added more coins as retail traders have taken profit,” Santiment noted.
As of June 12, this group controls 41.61 million ETH, representing nearly 27% of the total circulating supply, the firm added.
Ethereum Whales Are Diving Into DeFi Platforms as Well
Ethereum whales are increasingly engaging with the DeFi ecosystem, with certain protocols seeing a surge in large transaction activity, according to Santiment.
In a separate post on X, the analytics firm reported that Ethereum Name Service (ENS) led the spike in whale transactions during the second week of July, with activity surging 313.5%. Ethereum-based lending protocols followed, posting a 203.8% increase.
Other notable jumps included the Base-powered Virtual Protocol and USDC transfers on Ethereum Layer 2 networks Arbitrum and Optimism, all of which recorded triple-digit growth in whale activity.
Despite increased whale accumulation and growing DeFi adoption, Ether’s price performance remains muted. According to CoinGecko data, ETH is up just 1.8% over the past 14 days and 3.8% over the past 30 days.
Ether is currently trading at $2,575 — still down nearly 48% from its all-time high.
Spot ETH ETF Inflow Streak Finally Comes to an End
Rising institutional interest in Ethereum was reflected in a 19-day inflow streak for U.S.-based spot Ether ETFs — the longest since their launch in July 2024 — before it finally came to a halt on Friday.
According to Farside data, the streak ended with net outflows of $2.1 million, marking the first day of negative flows after nearly three weeks of consistent investment.
Over the 19-day run, spot ETH ETFs attracted a total of $1.37 billion in inflows, with the majority going into BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF.
First Ethereum Treasury Stock Plunges in Market Debut
Shares of sports betting platform SharpLink Gaming tumbled 73% in after-hours trading last Thursday following the company’s filing to register a large volume of shares for potential resale — a move that appeared to unsettle investors who had backed its Ethereum treasury strategy.
Despite the sharp selloff, SharpLink chairman Joseph Lubin — who also serves as CEO of blockchain firm Consensys — said the market had misread the filing.
The filing came after SharpLink announced on May 30 that it planned to sell up to $1 billion in common shares, with the majority of the proceeds earmarked for purchasing ETH.
