ETH Accumulation Surges as Traders Eye Short-Term Rally: Market Watch
Ethereum holders are loading up on ETH at a rapid pace, signaling strong conviction in near-term price appreciation. On-chain data reveals a spike in accumulation patterns among mid-to-large wallets—typically a precursor to volatile moves.
Why the rush? Traders are positioning for two catalysts: potential ETF approvals and the looming Devcon 7 conference. Meanwhile, the ’smart money’ cohort—addresses holding 100-10K ETH—has added over 240,000 ETH to reserves in Q2 2025 alone.
Caveat emptor: This isn’t organic adoption. It’s degens front-running liquidity events while retail gets memecoin PTSD. The real test comes when these players take profits.
A Closer Look at Holder Behavior
According to analysis by CryptoQuant’s Carmelo Alemán, since a cycle high of $4,107 attained on December 16 last year, the price of ETH has endured a sustained correction. The bearish run finally put long-term holders into “unrealized loss territory” as the cryptocurrency’s value hit $1,866, nearly 8% below the Realized Price of $2,026.
Experts describe Realized Price as the average price at which all coins in circulation were last transacted on-chain, and it is used to provide insight into the historical cost basis of investors.
Since March 10, the volume of ETH held by accumulating addresses has grown from 15.53 million to 19.03 million tokens. Investors seized the opportunity occasioned by falling prices to buy more, driving down their collective realized price to $1,980 by May 3. This effectively signaled a doubling down on their belief that the cryptocurrency is getting ready for a price breakout.
“ETH investors demonstrate strong belief in the asset, project, and ecosystem,” wrote Alemán. “Their On-Chain behavior reflects structural conviction and clear expectations of short-term appreciation.”
Mixed Performance Despite Bullish Undertones
The timing of this renewed bullishness appears to match technical signals and community sentiment captured across social media. Popular crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe recently noted that Ethereum’s price chart is forming a textbook falling wedge, often viewed as a precursor to bullish breakouts.
“ETH is consolidating before a big breakout upwards,” he stated, pointing to converging trend lines and declining trade volumes as signs of brewing volatility. “The liquidity is up for grabs, it just needs a news-related item to kick it off.”
Furthermore, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has surged 10% in the last fortnight, bringing the asset back above the $1,800 level. Still, despite the green shoot, its performance in the last year remains underwhelming, with its price down more than 42% in that period.
