Ethereum rose above $2.63K on Friday, Sept. 18, reaching its highest market value since January as Santiment reported increased activity among large and long-term holders. The analytics platform said the number of large Ethereum transactions was climbing during the price breakout, indicating that large holders were becoming increasingly active.

In a Sept. 18 post, Santiment also reported that Ethereum’s holder base was expanding alongside the price. The number of wallets with a non-zero balance reached a record 207.17 million despite choppy cryptocurrency-market conditions over the past several months.

Staking remained another factor supporting long-term Ethereum holdings, with more than 40 million ETH currently staked.

Decentralized finance was another source of demand. Santiment estimated that Ethereum accounted for about $50 billion in total value locked across decentralized finance, including lending markets, decentralized exchanges, stablecoins and liquid staking.

Binance withdrawals reach highest level since 2023

Analyst Darkfost highlighted large-scale Ethereum withdrawals from Binance. According to his data, the average monthly number of Ethereum withdrawal transactions from the exchange exceeded 90,000, the highest level since 2023 and roughly double the level recorded at the beginning of the year.

Darkfost linked the trend to Ethereum accumulation. He said mass withdrawals from the exchange may indicate that investors are buying Ethereum and moving it into private custody for medium- and long-term storage.

The analyst also said Ethereum’s latest move had surpassed its previous April high. In his view, Ethereum was showing stronger momentum than Bitcoin, which had yet to firmly break above its May high.

Darkfost cautioned that exchange outflows and whale-activity metrics do not by themselves guarantee further price gains. The indicators reflect a change in Ethereum holders’ behavior, he said.

Source: Incrypted