Wallets holding more than 1,000 ETH shed roughly 1.7 million ETH between May 20 and August 20, most of it untraceable to a sale. At the same time, ether ETFs pulled in $220.77 million in a single session, while Nasdaq-listed mining-machine maker Intchains Group said it no longer expects material additional ETH purchases as it redirects capital toward chips and AI.
Ethereum's biggest whales have been quietly reshuffling their balance sheets. Wallets holding more than 1,000 ETH collectively shed approximately 1.7 million ETH between May 20 and August 20, a roughly 2.9% decline across the whale tier, according to data from Santiment.
Where the ETH actually went
Most of that ETH did not hit the open market. The majority appears to have flowed into staking contracts, smart contracts, bridges, and exchanges, pointing to repositioning rather than a sell-off. Of the 1.7 million ETH that left whale wallets, only about 300,000 ETH can be traced to smaller wallet categories.
Exchange balances back up that reading. ETH held on exchanges dropped from roughly 7.07 million to 6.54 million over the same three-month window, a decline of about 530,000 ETH leaving exchange custody. Meanwhile, wallets holding 1 to 10 ETH saw their share of total supply rise from 4.38% to 4.52% over the same period.
ETF demand keeps climbing
Institutional demand told a different but complementary story on Thursday. Ether ETFs collected $220.77 million across six products, with Blackrock's ETHA leading at $173.30 million. No ether ETF recorded an outflow that session. Total ether ETF net assets rose to $13.58 billion.
A corporate buyer steps back
Not every institutional holder is adding, though. Intchains Group, a Nasdaq-listed altcoin mining-machine maker, said it no longer anticipates material additional accumulation of ETH as it redirects capital toward a next-generation ASIC chip and early AI initiatives. The company's first-half revenue fell to RMB11.1 million (around $1.6 million) from RMB175.6 million a year earlier. It held about 9,176 units of ETH-based cryptocurrencies worth RMB 98.1 million as of June 30.
The pullback does not look like a cash crunch. Intchains ended June with RMB461.1 million (equivalent to $68 million) of cash and short-term investments, which it says covers its chip program and planned activities for at least twelve months.
Sources: Crypto Briefing, Bitcoin.com News, CryptoSlate
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
