cryptopolitan.com
Ethereum ($ETH) is facing a mix of relatively low prices and increased usage. The network is carrying a near-record level of transactions, while over 30% of the supply is locked.
Ethereum ($ETH) keeps building up a supply crunch, based on whale holdings and increased staking. Currently, around 30% of the supply is staked, with highly active inflows in the past few months. More than 35M $ETH is staked on the Beacon chain, an all-time high. The trend for staking may continue, as ETFs are also allowed to include staking for passive income.
After some outflows from the staking contract during the market panic in March and April, Ethereum staking returned to peak levels, not seen since September 2024. $ETH staking became one of the most reliable markers for long-term confidence in the network’s value.
Following the Pectra upgrade, staking also accelerated as large-scale whales could deposit more $ETH at a time to build their stake. As a result, the total value staked on Ethereum is at an all-time high.
The Ethereum network carries over $61B locked in DeFi protocols, including lending, liquid staking, and DEX liquidity pools. $ETH remains valuable as collateral, and whales are in no hurry to sell.
More $ETH is wrapped in multiple protocols and is taken off the open market. Whales have also shown increased activity, adding on average 800K $ETH per day for the previous week, while only 16K new $ETH are produced each week. Whales are showing unprecedented levels of accumulation, boosting the narrative of a long-awaited price breakout.
$ETH exchange reserves remain scarce, at around 19M tokens. ETFs are also actively buying, with BlackRock recently absorbing the stake sold by Grayscale. $ETH is also becoming attractive to corporate buyers as a collateral asset.
The Ethereum network also awaits a new upgrade, which could further scale and speed up transactions. Despite the relatively high price compared to other networks, Ethereum remains a key platform for DeFi. Based on smart contract activity, the network’s main use cases are $ETH transfers, while USDT and USDC remain some of the busiest smart contracts.
$ETH remains undervalued with volatile trading
The current status of $ETH is raising expectations for a catch-up rally. Trading under $2,500, $ETH is seen as undervalued, despite the peak on-chain activity. Transactions have been climbing for Ethereum throughout 2025, reaching a higher baseline, with the occasional day of anomalous record activity.
Despite this, the $ETH market price remains close to its lows, still crashing after each breakout. In June, $ETH failed to reclaim the $3,000 level. The token is down around 5% in June, though Q2 may end with significant net gains. $ETH expanded by 31.8% in Q2, mostly driven by the peak gains in May.
The multiple bullish factors for $ETH are still not enough to spark a more decisive rally. In June, there is still an expectation for a breakout, where $ETH can rally as high as $10,000. Even without a rally, Ethereum has shown it is not a dead chain. Recently, the network drew in over $334M in daily net inflows from bridges, as value returned to the biggest liquidity hub.