TL;DR

Ethereum remained one of the altcoins that failed to chart a new all-time high during the most recent bull cycle and now stands 50% away from its local peak. However, ETH holders have continuously removed the number of tokens sitting on exchanges, which could suggest that a price rally could finally be around the corner.

ETH on Exchanges Diminishes

The amount of a certain asset sitting on exchanges is a crucial metric that could determine the upcoming price movements. This is due to the fact that when theres more, investors can quickly dispose of them, which inherently increases the selling pressure. Additionally, it could be an example for other traders to follow suit.

In contrast, when there are fewer tokens on trading platforms, the selling pressure is lower as investors are preparing to hold their assets for the long run. Although the most typical choice to store cryptocurrencies for years outside of exchanges has been cold storage, the advancements in the industry allow another option now.

This has been the case with Ethereum, according to data from Santiment. The analytics platform said ETH holders have moved a substantial portion of their assets to DeFi and staking platforms, which has reduced the available supply on exchanges to less than 9 million ETH.

This is the lowest number in almost ten years. Moreover, its over 16% less than the ETH stored on exchanges just seven weeks ago.

Thanks to the many DeFi and staking options, Ethereums holders have now brought the available supply on exchanges down to 8.97M, the lowest amount in nearly 10 years (November, 2015). There is 16.4% less $ETH on exchanges compared to just 7 weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/r5957wPhLi

So When a Surge?

As mentioned above, the fewer tokens available for immediate trading should spell good news for the underlying asset. And, we know that ETH is in dire need for such positive movements.

The asset rode the late 2024/early 2025 bull run in a somewhat impressive manner, going to $4,000 on a couple of occasions. However, unlike its rival SOL, BNB, BTC, and many others, it not only failed to chart a new all-time high but was violently rejected there and pushed south hard. Just a week ago, it bottomed at $1,750, thus losing more than 55% since its local peak.

It spiked past $2,000 earlier this week, but that was short-lived, too, as it now struggles beneath that line. This means that it has erased all the gains charted after Trumps presidential election victory and now trades below the early November levels. Its dominance in the crypto market has shrunk in recent years, going from over 22% in early 2024 to under 9% now.

ETHUSD. Source: TradingView