Ethereum Whales Reduce Holdings by 1.7M ETH as Exchange Balances Drop

Highlights: 

• Ethereum whales have reduced their ETH holdings by 1.7 million, according to Santiment’s data. 
• The analytical intelligence platform also noted that smaller wallets were accumulating ETH, while whales were dumping the asset. 
• Ethereum’s price continues to soar as the asset edges closer to reclaiming the $3,000 price level.

Ethereum (ETH) whales have been reducing their ETH holdings over the past three months, according to data from the on-chain analytical intelligence firm Santiment. In an X post on Thursday, Santiment reported that wallets holding more than 1,000 ETH lost roughly 1.7 million ETH between May 20 and August 20. This represents a 2.9% decline in the amount of ETH held by these large investors. 

While large investors continue to dump ETH, smaller wallets have been accumulating larger portions of the Ethereum supply. Santiment stated that wallets holding between 1 and 10 ETH increased their holdings from 4.38% to 4.52% during the same period. The analytical intelligence firm added that these retailers recorded gains from their ETH holdings for 65 days and declines for 27 days.

Composition of the Large ETH Holders

Santiment’s analysis showed that most of the ETH leaving whale wallets did not simply move into smaller wallets. The data showed that only about 300,000 ETH could be traced to smaller wallets. This leaves a much larger portion of these tokens unaccounted for. The data also suggests that much of the missing ETH may now be held in staking wallets or smart contract addresses.

The analysis also considered the makeup of the largest wallet group. Santiment noted that these wallets do not only belong to individual investors. They also include exchanges’ wallets, bridge contracts, and staking-related addresses. ETH tokens held on exchanges dropped from 7.07 million ETH to about 6.54 million ETH.

ETH’s Price Spikes as Ethereum Whales’ Holdings Reduce by 1.7M

At the time of writing, the crypto market is 6.5% up in the past 24 hours. The market has a market capitalization of $2.622 trillion and a trading volume of about $140.795 billion. Within the same period, ETH’s price surged 4.9%. It is trading at about $2,385 with a market cap of approximately $286.267 billion and a trading volume of roughly $25.7 billion. 

In the past week and month, ETH’s price spiked 26% and 23.5%, respectively. However, the asset’s price remains 45.1% down year-to-date. ETH’s price is also 52% below its 4,946 all-time high (ATH) attained in August 2024.

ETH’s supply inflation remains low while volatility is medium at 3.97%. In addition, the “Fear & Greed Index” points to “Greed” at 72, while sentiment stays bullish. ETH has also outperformed 57% of the top-performing cryptocurrencies in the past year. 

ETH’s Crowd Sentiment Hits 3-Month Low as the Asset’s Price Rebounds

In a separate post, Santiment reported that Ethereum’s market mood took a sharp negative turn on August 17, shortly before the asset staged a strong recovery. “Crowd sentiment on ETH hit a three-month low on Aug 17. Two days later, ETH was up about 17%. Weighted sentiment, 7-day average, fell to its lowest reading in at least three months on Aug 17, and turned negative,” Santiment stated.

The analytical chain also noted that the wider market played significant roles in ETH’s recovery. For example, the US Treasury expanded its purchases of longer-term bonds, while the market saw a record wave of short-position liquidations. Bitcoin’s price also rose significantly, helping lift the broader crypto market. “A negative crowd did not cause the rally. It did leave a record pile of shorts standing in its path,” Santiment explained.

Crowd sentiment on ETH hit a three-month low on Aug 17. Two days later ETH was up about 17%.

📉 Weighted sentiment, 7-day average, fell to its lowest reading in at least three months on Aug 17, and turned negative.
🐋 Our eth_whale_dump anomaly fired once on Aug 18, at roughly… pic.twitter.com/qLOw9dFUAp

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) August 20, 2026