Ethereum has hit a remarkable milestone: More than 35 million ETH worth nearly $89 billion are now locked in staking contracts, setting a new all-time high.

At the same time, a separate army of hardcore holders, with no history of selling, now control a record 22.8 million ETH, signaling long-term conviction in the network’s future amid recent market volatility.

Whales Dive In and Staking Surges

According to the on-chain data analytics platform, CryptoQuant, in the first half of June alone, Ethereum users added more than 500,000 ETH to staking contracts, pushing the total locked supply past 35 million. This amounts to almost 29% of Ethereum’s total circulating supply, which now stands at 120.72 million.

This surge isn’t happening in a vacuum, with massive whale accumulation serving as a backdrop. Data from Glassnode shows that addresses holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH have accumulated more than 800,000 units of the cryptocurrency daily for nearly a week.

On June 12 alone, these deep-pocketed investors scooped up 871,000 ETH, making it the largest single-day haul this year. These stockpiling patterns echo trends last seen in 2017’s bull run, with the whales now controlling over 16 million ETH combined, having a market value north of $40 billion at current rates.

A more favorable U.S. regulatory landscape, following a recent statement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clarifying that certain “protocol staking activities” don’t require Securities Act registration, is driving part of the staking explosion.

Even though approval for staking-specific exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is still pending, the SEC’s guidance provided significant tailwinds, catalyzing the staking rush. Lido remains the dominant staking provider, accounting for about a quarter of all staked ETH, while Coinbase and Binance follow with 7.5% and 7.4% respectively.

Some market watchers have pointed out that this sustained staking boom, alongside the rampant whale buying, is squeezing liquid supply, which could amplify future price moves if demand continues to rise.

Price Under Pressure

Despite the strong fundamentals, Ethereum’s price has struggled recently, partly due to the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran. At the time of this writing, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap was trading around $2,534, down almost 2% in the last 24 hours and a more significant 9.3% over the past week.

Still, it’s not all doom, with ETH posting a respectable 6.5% increase across 30 days, even though year-on-year, it remains 26.5% in the red.

Technical analysts have also identified a significant golden cross, where the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) crosses above the 200-day EMA, is imminent on the daily chart. As highlighted by analyst Ted Pillows, the last such occurrence in mid-November preceded a rapid 35% uptick from $3,000 to $4,000.