Ethereum exchange supply drops to 10-year low amid strong whale accumulation — is $3000 ETH price incoming?

Ethereum’s supply on centralized exchanges has dropped to its lowest level in over 10 years, as large holders and institutions continue to accumulate the asset. 

According to a May 19 update by Santiment, less than 4.9% of Ethereum’s ( ETH ) total supply is now held on exchanges, a record low in the network’s 10+ year history. Santiment noted that over the last five years, 15.3 million ETH have been withdrawn from centralized trading platforms.

More recently, CryptoRank.io reported on May 18 that over 1 million ETH have been withdrawn from exchanges in the past month alone. The platform noted that “users are increasingly choosing to accumulate Ethereum rather than trade it,” pointing to long-term confidence in the asset.

On-chain data shows that Ethereum whales, wallets holding over 10,000 ETH, have added more than 450,000 ETH since late April. By May 10, these large holders owned 40.75 million ETH, the highest level since March, as tracked by Santiment.

Institutions are also showing growing interest. According to SoSoValue data , U.S. spot ETH spot ETFs have seen net inflows of $30 million in the last month, reversing a prolonged streak of outflows. At the same time, BlackRock’s Ethereum assets under management have surpassed $2.9 billion, signaling continued accumulation.

Analysts say ETH is becoming a key asset for institutional investors. In a May 12 post on X, market analyst Adriano Feria wrote:

“ETH remains the most natural choice for institutional diversification… It’s the only crypto asset with ETF access, regulatory clarity, and built-in yield potential.”

Ethereum has also benefited from recent network upgrades. The Pectra upgrade , which went live on May 7, improved how Ethereum handles data. This has helped boost activity on Layer-2 networks built on Ethereum. According to L2Beat data , Base led the way with 259 million transactions in the past 30 days, and overall Layer-2 activity is up over 20% compared to the previous month.

Meanwhile, the market is watching a possible Securities and Exchange Commission decision by June 1 on whether to allow staking for spot ETH ETFs. If approved, institutions could earn yield through these funds, which may attract more capital. BlackRock and other firms have argued that staking would make Ethereum ETFs more complete.

According to some analysts, Ethereum may outperform Solana ( SOL ) and other tokens this bull cycle. Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, stated in a recent interview that ETH is expected to do better in the upcoming bull market because of its robust security, vibrant developer community, and sizable user base.

As of press time, Ethereum is trading at $2,535, marking a 57% increase in the last 30 days after a 45% drop in Q1.