- Whale movements are intensifying, with major players like Galaxy Digital and fresh wallets shifting tens of thousands of ETH—fueling speculation and increasing market pressure amid a cautious environment.
- Ethereum network fundamentals are weakening, with stablecoin supply, DeFi TVL, and key technical indicators like RSI and MACD all showing signs of decline, raising concerns about short-term performance.
- Analysts are questioning Ethereum’s long-term value, as Layer-1 revenues shrink and Layer-2s like Arbitrum and Base take center stage, though ETH’s future could still be shaped by ETF success and stablecoin adoption.
Ethereum’s been under fire lately. And no, not the fun kind. A flurry of whale movements has stirred the pot, rattling an already cautious market. While the overall crypto crowd watches with one eye on charts and the other on headlines, big players seem to be moving with precision—some might even say… strategy.
Whales Make Waves—But Not the Kind Bulls Want
Let’s start with a wallet that’s raising eyebrows. Fresh data from LookOnChain shows a new wallet just yoinked 3,000 ETH (roughly $4.92 million) from Kraken. But instead of parking it, they funneled the funds into Aave and Compound, then borrowed $3M in USDC—before looping it right back to Kraken. Most likely for more ETH buys… or, y’know, maybe something else entirely.
And that’s not the only heavy hitter moving weight. Galaxy Digital—yep, the Novogratz-led crew—just transferred 12,500 ETH ($20.36 million) to Binance. That brings their total to over 25,000 ETH moved in just 72 hours. Not small potatoes.
Add to that an 8,922 ETH deposit (~$14.8 million) from Kraken and a chunky sell-off of 8,001 ETH worth over $13 million… and yeah, there’s a pattern forming here. One that’s got retail investors sweating.
At the time of writing, ETH is sitting around $1,634, down 1.62% in the last 24 hours. Zooming out, it’s nearly 50% down from where it was last year. Oof.
Network Metrics Aren’t Looking Great Either
Now for the fundamentals, which, frankly, aren’t helping ease any nerves. Ethereum’s on-chain activity is slowing down. Stablecoin supply on Ethereum dropped to $6.45B, while Tron climbed to $2.73B. Not great. Meanwhile, USDT and USDC turnover? Sitting at a combined $1.52 billion. Definitely not the boom times.
DeFi TVL on Ethereum has also taken a hit. From $66.5B in early 2025 down to $46.5B now. That’s a pretty steep drop—one that says fewer people are locking up value on the network.
From a technical perspective, it’s also meh. RSI is at 41.71—just hanging there—and the MACD’s hanging out in bear territory too: -114.1, with the signal line at -123.6. Not ideal if you’re hoping for a quick recovery.
According to analyst Ali Martinez, though, there’s still hope around the $1,546 mark. That’s where over 820,000 ETH changed hands, which makes it a key level bulls are likely to defend. But if that breaks… things might get messier.
The Bigger Question: What’s Ethereum Really Worth?
This brings us to the bigger convo—Ethereum’s long-term value. Not everyone’s convinced it’s still the king it once was.
Garrison Yang from Mirai Labs says ETH might be overpriced, pointing to its declining Layer-1 revenue. Meanwhile, Layer-2s like Base and Arbitrum are stacking millions while only sending a small cut back to Ethereum.
To put it in perspective: Base pulled in $82.7M last year, but only paid $5M to Ethereum’s L1. Arbitrum did $95M off $152M before the Dencun upgrade chopped that down.
Still, Yang admits Ethereum’s future will hinge on whether stablecoins and real-world assets keep gaining traction on the network. And yeah, how its ETF ends up comparing to Bitcoin’s could shift the balance too.
