Ethereum Whales’ Holdings Grow by 12% – Is the Bear Market About to End?

A recent report from Nansen, an on-chain analysis platform, shows that despite the bearish sentiment, Ethereum whales’ holdings are increasing. Moreover, this accumulation has been slow and steady without a change since the early months of 2024. However, external and internal challenges are still apparent. Ethereum’s network activity has been declining since last year. With tough competition in the market and a declining market, investors remain indecisive about the future of ETH.

ETH Dips Below $1,800: Big Investors Are Buying the Crash

Just like other coins in the market, Ethereum has also been in a prolonged bearish trend. In the recent crash, Ethereum even went under $1,800, which was last seen in Oct 2024. Since then, ETH has recovered and is now trading near the $2,018 with a 6.7% daily gain.  However, this small gain can be underwhelming for longer holders as ETH started trading in February at nearly $3,200. Although Etheruem’s value has been falling since then, the market data suggests whale accumulation is continuing in the deep.

Chart 1 – Provided by Nansen, published on Crypto.News, March 19, 2025

According to Chart 1, presented by Nansen, Ethereum whales’ holdings have been increasing since 2024, when Ethereum reached its peak. Surprisingly, this trend of accumulation has continued even in 2025, when ETH has been constantly declining, reaching a nearly 44% loss. As shown in Chart 1, retail investors have been lowering their ETH liquidity while whales have been adding.

Ethereum Whales Are on the Move: A 12% Surge in Holdings

Since the start of 2025, whales with 10,000 to 100,000 ETH holdings have increased their reserve by 12%. Nansen commented on this shift and added that smaller investors with 1k to 10k ETH grow their reserve by 3%. “The 10k-100k segment saw over a 12% growth in 2025 alone on their total ETH balances, whereas the 1k-10k segment saw a 3% increase in their holdings YTD.”

ETH Challenged: Market Shifts Are Endangering Its Future

In the reports, we also can find a big drop in Ethereum’s network activity since the start of 2024. For instance, the median gas prices have declined 50 times since then. Based on the market data, some of Ethereum’s users have migrated to Solana and other layer 2 blockchains. Nansen also mentioned that the ETH’s market is being threatened by various platforms and networks that surpass Etheruem’s capabilities. “competing on all fronts and risks being a ‘jack of all trades but master of none’ when compared with BTC, SOL, and TIA.”

Additionally, this accumulation by big investors could be a red herring, as other statistics show ETH’s performance is lacking. As reported the biggest altcoin has performed worse than its peers both in the bullish and bearish markets. Additionally, this underperformance can also be observed in the on-chain metrics which were analysed. Nansen also mentioned that as the second biggest cryptocurrency, ETH’s performance is massively lagging behind BTC. As such, they claimed that ETH could only close the gap with Bitcoin if “significant changes” occurred. Consequently, investors remain uncertain about Etheruem’s growth and profit prospects.

ETH Comeback? the Pectra Upgrade Changes Everything

To regain its former market share and enter the competition once again, Ethereum needs innovation and new features. Some of these needs are set to be met with the upcoming pectra upgrade next month. However, the release of this upgrade could also be problematic as its developments and test launches have been rocky. With all that said whale accumulation is a sign of future uptrends, so the current bearish sentiment might be reversed.

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