Whales Quietly Accumulate Ethereum – A Sign of a Big Wave Building?
Ethereum (ETH) is approaching the $4,500 mark, sparking a new wave of expectations about whether the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency can surpass its all-time high of nearly $5,000 in the current bull cycle. On-chain data shows something remarkable: whales are quietly accumulating again, and that could be the spark for the upcoming breakout.
🐋 “Big Whales” Return to the Race
According to a report from Glassnode, August saw a sharp increase in the accumulation behavior of wallets holding large amounts of Ethereum. Wallets with over 10,000 ETH accumulated more than 2.2 million ETH in just 30 days, indicating growing confidence in the asset’s upside potential.
After a break, wallets with a size of 1,000 to 10,000 ETH also started to return to net buying, adding more than 411,000 ETH to their portfolios. Notably, each time this group accumulates again, it coincides with the period when ETH starts to have new growth momentum.
“Ethereum just needs another strong accumulation wave to trigger a rally beyond $5,000,” – the analysis team at Altcoin Vector commented.
⚙️ Spot and Derivatives: Two Sides of the ETH Market
While Bitcoin is seeing high liquidity in the spot market, Ethereum shows a different structure. ETH’s cost basis distribution (CBD) shows that the market is still “sparse” – meaning there is not much direct on-chain buying and selling activity.
According to Glassnode, this leaves ETH vulnerable to the derivatives market, where futures and options account for a large portion of trading volume. However, if the upcoming rally can attract spot capital from long-term investors, Ethereum could completely transition from “speculative fever” to a sustainable growth driver.
📈 Signals from mid-sized wallets reinforce accumulation momentum
Data from Santiment also reinforces this trend: wallets holding between 1,000 and 100,000 ETH have increased their holdings by 14% in just the past 5 months. This group is considered “strategic players” – large enough to influence supply but also flexible in reacting to the market.
Increased ownership in this group is often an early indicator of a price breakout, similar to what happened in 2021 before ETH reached its historical peak.
💡 What’s really going on?
Analysts say Ethereum’s current accumulation structure is characteristic of a market preparing for a new expansion phase. Institutional money is slowly returning, while retail investors remain cautious – a pattern often seen in the early stages of major bull cycles.
“Whales don’t talk, they act. And when they start quietly accumulating ETH, the market usually doesn’t take long to react,” said an on-chain analyst at CryptoQuant.
🪙 Conclusion: The silence before the storm
Ethereum is at a crossroads between accumulation and breakout. As large wallets continue to accumulate, the market structure tightens, and spot demand is expected to pick up again, ETH could soon head towards the $5,000 region – and beyond if institutional money flows in strongly in Q4.
The whales are quietly moving. The question is — are retail members listening for this signal, or will they only notice it when the wave has already hit?