Ethereum Feels the Squeeze: Exchange Inflows Surge While ETF Hype Fizzles
Ethereum's getting shoved back into crypto's penalty box. On-chain data shows exchange wallets swelling like a whale's lunch order—just as ETF mania hits the brakes.
Whales Dump While Wall Street Dawdles
The smart money's playing hot potato with ETH bags. Over $420 million worth hit exchanges last week—the highest since the SEC's ETF maybe-yes-maybe-no dance began. Meanwhile, institutional demand flatlines like a DeFi project post-hack.
Glassnode's metrics reveal traders are flipping ETH faster than a PancakeSwap yield farm. Network fees cratered 68% since June, suggesting retail's sitting this round out.
ETF Dreams Meet Crypto Realities
Wall Street's suddenly allergic to crypto paperwork. Three major issuers quietly shelved ETH filings last month—probably realizing they'd make more profit relabeling coffee cans as 'alternative assets.'
But here's the kicker: staking yields just ticked up. The network's quietly rewarding hodlers while paper hands panic. Classic Ethereum—always playing 4D chess while everyone else checks CoinMarketCap.
Ethereum Moves to Exchanges — What Do Analysts Say?
According to data from CryptoQuant, on July 1, 2025, nearly 100,000 ETH, worth about $250 million, were deposited into Binance. This marks the highest single-day inflow to the exchange over the past month.
Compared to recent price behavior, large daily inflows often lead to ETH price corrections or keep the price trading within a tight sideways range.
In addition, an on-chain observer noted that over the past three weeks, a large entity withdrew 95,313 ETH from staking contracts using two wallet addresses. The entity then transferred 68,182 ETH (about $165 million) to centralized exchanges such as HTX, OKX, and Bybit.
With an average staking price around $2,878 per ETH and the current price NEAR $2,431, this entity has suffered a roughly $42.6 million loss. This action suggests a stop-loss strategy or portfolio restructuring, which adds to market selling pressure.
Meanwhile, data from Sosovalue shows that while net inflows into spot ETH ETFs in the US remain positive, they are slowing down.
Specifically, the net FLOW of these ETH ETFs dropped from over $240 million on June 11 to just over $40 million on July 1. This reflects a slowdown in ETF buying momentum.
All these data points combined could weigh ETH’s price during the first week of July. At the same time, statistics from Coinglass indicate that Q3 has historically been ETH’s weakest quarter, with an average return of just 0.59%.
“The long-term bullish outlook for Ethereum remains intact, depending on an improvement in broader macroeconomic conditions. However, Ethereum could face a slight short-term pullback,” analyst Amr Taha from CryptoQuant noted.
Experts Show Consensus on ETH’s Long-term Upside Potential
It seems that experts widely agree on ETH’s long-term potential.
MEXC Research noted that Ethereum is staging a strong recovery, thanks to validator upgrades that improve staking efficiency and clearer stablecoin regulations brought by the GENIUS Act.
“With risk appetite slowly returning to the market, along with stabilizing geopolitical situation and improved global liquidity, ETH looks well-positioned for further gains in the coming weeks. If current momentum persists and macro conditions remain favorable, a MOVE towards $3,000 and potentially $3,300 seems increasingly plausible. Conversely, a black swan event may trigger a break below $2,350 and cause a steeper decline towards $2,100,” MEXC Research told BeInCrypto.
Meanwhile, Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget, also emphasized Core factors such as clearer regulatory signals through the GENIUS Act and strong on-chain activity that could drive ETH’s price higher.
“Ethereum is gaining notable momentum, buoyed by its validator backbone upgrade, which has improved staking efficiency and contributed to reduced ETH supply… In the near term, Ethereum may test the $2,800–$3,000 range by mid-July,” Ryan Lee told BeInCrypto.
