Ethereum Whales Just Accumulated 640K ETH, Is a Bigger Rally Coming?

Ethereum’s price has recently mirrored broader trends in the cryptocurrency market, rising to above $1,800 before retracing as part of a wider market correction.

At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $1,754, showing a 3.3% decrease in the past 24 hours, while the total crypto market cap slipped by 3.6% during the same period.

Although short-term price movements reflect shifting momentum, on-chain metrics signal deeper changes that may have broader implications for Ethereum’s network health and investor sentiment.

Recent data from CryptoQuant reveals that long-term Ethereum holders are increasing their activity. These wallets, known for never selling their ETH, have seen one of their highest inflows in recent years.

This coincides with rising network activity, including a notable uptick in active addresses and transactional volume. Together, these developments suggest that behind the surface-level volatility, there may be a quiet phase of accumulation and user engagement building within the Ethereum ecosystem.

CryptoQuant contributor OnChainSchool reports a significant development among Ethereum’s long-term holding addresses. In the last 48 hours, over 640,000 ETH flowed into wallets that have maintained a strict accumulation pattern without any recorded selling behavior.

This marks the largest inflow to such wallets since 2018, suggesting that entities with a long-term outlook are increasing their exposure during the current price range.

The behavior of these accumulation-only wallets is often viewed as a proxy for investor conviction, particularly among participants who are not influenced by short-term volatility.

According to OnChainSchool, this activity during a period of price drawdown may reflect strategic positioning ahead of potential future developments.

It’s also notable that these inflows come at a time when Ethereum fundamentals such as its transition to proof-of-stake, L2 adoption, and evolving staking mechanisms continue to advance. If sustained, this trend could help establish a support zone around current price levels.

Complementing the rise in long-term holder activity is a surge in Ethereum network usage. Another CryptoQuant analyst, Carmelo Alemán, highlights that the number of active Ethereum addresses grew by nearly 10% between April 20 and April 22, jumping from around 306,000 to over 336,000.

This metric counts unique wallet addresses that were involved in transactions as either senders or receivers over a given period. While active addresses alone do not capture the full picture, Alemán notes that the metric should be viewed alongside others such as exchange volume, gas fees, transaction count, and Layer 2 activity.

The rise in address activity, especially when paired with a simultaneous price increase, is often taken as a sign of broader user engagement and growing application-layer demand.

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView