On July 14, Crypto analytics firm Santiment reported that Ethereum whales have continued to increase their holdings of the second-largest cryptocurrency. The top 10 largest Ethereum addresses have added 2.12% of the token’s circulating supply to their stockpile in the last 41 days.

Largest Addresses Own 20.58% of Ethereum Supply

According to a tweet published by Santiment, ETH whales are making the most of the recent dip in altcoin’s value. The ten biggest accumulators of the currency now own the highest percentage of its circulating supply — a staggering 20.58% — since May 2017.

In the days since Ethereum dropped from its all-time high of $4,362(recorded on May 12), the biggest Ethereum whales have bought an additional 2.12% of the token’s supply. Santiment estimates that the transactions contributing to this latest accumulation have taken place over the past 41 days.

🐳 #Ethereum‘s top 10 largest addresses now own the highest percentage of $ETH‘s overall supply (20.58%) since May, 2017. After dropping as low as 18.46% after the #AllTimeHigh, they’ve now accumulated 2.12% more of $ETH‘s total supply in the last 41 days. https://t.co/SKuGB0ZG5g pic.twitter.com/NcTGJFEF3d

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) July 13, 2021

At the time of writing, Ethereum was trading at $1900. It has lost more than 50% of its value since a crash in May.

Ethereum’s Supply on Exchanges Drops Amidst Increased Accumulation

Earlier this month, Santiment highlighted that Ethereum’s supply on various exchanges had hit record lows following the withdrawal of 5 million tokens. This took the outstanding ETH supply from 26 million in June to 21 million in July.

With a new update on the horizon, Ethereum supplies could continue to plummet on exchanges as investors add more tokens to their holdings. 

Another factor that is driving up the scarcity of ETH is the rising number of owners who have shown a preference for self-storing their holdings. A large number of crypto investors have been taken aback by instances of hacking and cyberattacks that have robbed traders of millions on crypto exchanges. Therefore, it’s probable that investors are selecting other options like hardware wallets that safeguard their ETH stash.

The ongoing staking in Ethereum 2.0 is also a major contributor to the decline in ETH supply. Many ETH enthusiasts are opting to become validators in the ETH 2.0 network and are consequently leaving exchanges with their holdings to earn rewards for their participation.