Ethereum whales stack millions of ETH despite sluggish price action

Ethereum ends December with flat price action as whale portfolios grow, foreign exchange reserves fall, and institutions continue to add ETH exposure.

Large ETH holders increase positions

On-chain data shows a rapid increase in ETH balances held by wallets managing between 10,000 and 100,000 tokens. The combined holdings of this group increased from approximately 17 to 18 million coins to over 21 million ETH in a short time. The speed of the increase is striking compared to previous market phases.

Crypto analyst Joseph Young noted that “ETH accumulation by whales is at an ALL-TIME HIGH.“The data suggests that this accumulation is occurring outside of peak price conditions. This group of holders is typically linked to funds, long-term entities and high-net-worth participants rather than short-term traders.

gm ☕️

ETH accumulation by whales is at an ALL-TIME HIGH.

persuasion capital sees ethereum:

> securing 68.2% of all DeFi TVL
> DATs are aggressively accumulating ETH
> issues 64.44% of all stablecoins
> institutions like JPM build directly on Ethereum

believe in ETH. pic.twitter.com/h99psHjHQR

— Joseph Young (@iamjosephyoung) December 24, 2025

Meanwhile, Ethereum remains responsible for most of the financial activities on the chain. Data from Conviction Capital shows that the network holds 68% of total DeFi value locked and issues more than 64% of all stablecoins. Major financial companies, including JPMorgan, are also building infrastructure directly on Ethereum, which contributes to the long-term use of the network.

Recent revelations point to growing institutional exposure to Ethereum. Tom Lee’s company, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, added 98,852 ETH to its balance sheet in the past week. According to According to Maartunn, ETH purchases linked to Lee totaled approximately $953 million this month, exceeding the amount recorded in November.

ETH supply on exchanges continues to decline

Data from CryptoQuant shows that Ethereum exchange reserves have fallen from around 20.8 million tokens to around 16.4 million over the past year. This reflects the net outflow of approximately 4.4 million ETH from centralized trading platforms.

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The decline in currency balances continued even during recent price declines. This suggests that ETH is being moved into self-custody, staking contracts, or long-term storage rather than being prepared for immediate selling. Together with the rising whale balance, the data points to steady absorption of supply.

Price remains close to key technical levels

Ethereum is trading at around $2,940, with modest weekly gains and lower daily momentum. Analysts note that the price is approaching the 200-week exponential moving average, a level often watched during long-term consolidations.

CryptoPulse declared that “a strong rebound from that level would help sustain the structure,” while a loss could open a move towards $2,000-$2,100. Separately also CryptoWZRD noted a position above $3,060 could allow for a near-term upside, while $2,800 remains a key support area.