Ethereum (ETH) at Fire-Sale Prices? Whale Accumulation Signals Major Upside Ahead

Crypto's sleeping giant stirs as smart money piles into ETH.

Whales are placing billion-dollar bets that Ethereum remains the most undervalued asset in crypto—despite what the spreadsheet jockeys on Wall Street claim about 'efficient markets.'

The accumulation pattern mirrors early 2021 behavior right before ETH's last parabolic rally. This time, the network's deflationary mechanics and layer-2 adoption provide rocket fuel even traditional finance can't ignore.

Key indicators flashing:

- Exchange reserves hitting 3-year lows as coins move to cold storage

- Futures open interest climbing without excessive leverage

- Staking yields attracting institutional capital (finally)

The real question isn't whether ETH is undervalued—it's whether traditional portfolios can afford to miss what happens next. After all, bankers still think 'DeFi' is a typo.

Historic Activity on Ethereum

On June 25, ethereum recorded 1,750,940 confirmed transactions. This was the third-highest daily count in its history and breaking a months-long downward trend in on-chain activity.

The “Ethereum: Transaction Count (Total)” metric captures all confirmed network transactions, including ETH transfers, DeFi operations, smart contract executions, and DApp interactions, and gives a clear insight into real usage. Such high activity levels have not been seen since January 14, 2024, when the cryptocurrency set its all-time high record with 1,961,144 transactions before usage gradually declined.

The latest spike comes even as ETH’s price has shown volatility, ranging between and $2,111-$2,879 over the past month, as traders, DeFi protocols, and arbitrage bots actively adjust positions in real time. This divergence between price weakness and strong on-chain activity suggests a potential early signal of accumulation and renewed DeFi interest, even if it is not yet reflected in ETH’s market valuation.

Meanwhile, institutional and retail interest seems to be steady, with stable ETH holdings on exchanges and rising transaction volumes on Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism, which continue to handle a significant share of Ethereum’s daily settlement activity.

CryptoQuant said that these developments point to deeper structural resilience in the network’s usage patterns.

“These developments reinforce Ethereum’s pivotal role in the broader crypto ecosystem and suggest that the network’s recent on-chain spike is not an isolated event, but part of a deeper structural recovery.”

Amid these signals of underlying strength, whale activity has emerged as another key indicator reflecting deep-pocketed confidence in Ethereum.

Whale Purchases Accelerate

Whales continue aggressive ETH accumulation, rapidly draining exchange supplies. Investor Ted Pillows highlighted one whale’s $8.91 million ETH purchase via Galaxy Digital yesterday, adding to $422 million in Ethereum amassed within a month.

These large-scale buys suggest mounting confidence among whales, even as overall market sentiment remains cautious.