Ethereum is getting more concentrated into the hands of whales, according to the latest data from on-chain analytics provider Santiment.

On October 18, Santiment reported that billionaire Ethereum investors with more than 1 million ETH hold 32.2% of the available supply for the first time since 2016.

Furthermore, Ethereum transactions exceeding $1 million hit their second-highest day in a month.

🐋 #Ethereum‘s whale addresses in the #billionaire tier (holding at least 1M $ETH) now hold 32.3% of the available supply for the first time since 2016. Yesterday’s transactions valued at $1M+ also had its 2nd highest day in 5 weeks. History is being made. https://t.co/sywdtn14k5 pic.twitter.com/SdbSrChJCf

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) October 17, 2023

Ethereum Selling Continues

With whales controlling a third of the supply, Ethereum has become very concentrated in the hands of the wealthy. However, Santiment didn’t specify whether these figures included entities such as centralized exchanges or stablecoin issuers that hold a lot of ETH.

What has been analyzed, however, is the selling patterns, and whales have been offloading ETH over the past few months.

According to data from Glassnode, there is a “striking difference” in the behavior of major Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings, indicating divergent views among crypto whales.

Since 2020, Ethereum whales, or those that hold over 1,000 ETH in this case, have been progressively lowering their holdings. This has resulted in the sale of about $20 million in ETH.

However, Bitcoin whales holding more than 1,000 BTC have primarily maintained their holdings, according to the data shared by CoinMarketCap.

#CryptoNews: #Glassnode data shows a striking difference in the behavior of major #Bitcoin and #Ethereum holdings, indicating divergent views among #crypto whales. 🧐https://t.co/0lhxaxuTOP

— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) October 16, 2023

Nevertheless, the Ethereum staking narrative has never been stronger, with more of the asset being staked than ever before despite withdrawals opening in April.

There are currently a record 27.6 million ETH staked valued at around $43.4 billion, according to Beaconcha.in. This represents around 23% of the total supply.

Furthermore, that supply has declined by 260,640 ETH or $409 million since the Merge in September last year, according to Ultrasound.Money.

ETH Price Bearish

None of the bullish staking or deflationary supply fundamentals have been able to beat the Ethereum bears off yet.

ETH is down another 1.3% on the day, trading at $1,568 at the time of writing. The asset has lost 4.5% over the past fortnight and continues to decline with the rest of the altcoins.

Ethereum is now 68% down from its all-time high, whereas Bitcoin, which has performed better this week, is down 59% from its peak.