The price of Ether (ETH) hit $3,000 again on Monday, a 16% recovery from the multi-month low of $2,620 hit on November 21. Market analysts pointed to key data metrics that suggest ETH is “preparing for a breakout to higher highs.”
Key Takeaways:
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Ether whales have been accumulating aggressively over the past six months.
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Robust Network Activity, Ethereum Scaling Upgrades in January Provide Tailwind for ETH.
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Traders expect ETH to rise to an all-time high once the $4,000 mark is broken.
What’s behind Ether’s recovery?
Ether whales remain confident in regards to the prospects of further recovery and are making the most of the recent decline to extend their holdings of more tokens.
Data from CryptoQuant shows a growing divergence between retail-sized wallets and large-scale investors.
Whale wallets with balances of 10,000-100,000 ETH contain over 22 million tokens following rapid accumulation over the past six months.
Meanwhile, retail and mid-market investors are net sellers, with holdings declining since 2024. This suggests redistribution slightly than speculative inflows into these wallets.
“Large whales holding greater than 10,000 don’t accumulate during a rally. They only accumulate when ETH dollar is undervalued before the rally begins,” analyst CW said in a Sunday post on X, adding:
“And they’ve increased their holdings significantly since July, suggesting they expect a $ETH rally.” Ethereum: Balance by bearer value
The indisputable fact that the whale buying rate has reached an all-time high “means the upcoming rally has the potential to achieve an all-time high,” CW added.
According to data from Glassnode, that is consistent with a pointy decline in ETH supply on centralized exchanges over the past six days.
ETH supply on exchanges fell 45% to a nine-year low of 10.2 million ETH on Sunday from 18.5 million ETH on July 1.
A declining exchange balance suggests that there’s less supply to sell immediately as more ETH is locked in smart contracts or moved to cold storage.
ETH balance on exchanges. Source: Glassnode
“$ETH supply on exchanges is declining rapidly,” said analyst DustyBC Crypto in a recent X post, adding:
“There is a risk of a supply shock.”
Ethereum network activity is recovering
According to Nansen data, Ethereum network activity continues to point out strength, with energetic addresses increasing by 22% over the past seven days.
The average monthly transaction number increased by 16% to 11.3 million over the identical period.
Top blockchains ranked by 7-day AAs and transaction count, USD. Source: Nansen
Additional data from Santiment shows a rise in recent wallets created on the Ethereum network, with a median of 163,000 recent addresses per day in December, up from 124,000 in July.
Ethereum day by day network growth. Source: Santiment
This is “a major increase in network activity for the world’s second largest cryptocurrency,” Rananjay Singh said in response to Ethereum’s network growth, adding:
“Adoption is slowly picking up speed.”
The variety of transactions stays at an all-time high, indicating an overall upward trend in network demand.
ETH: Number of transactions. Source: Glassnode
As Cointelegraph reported, the Ethereum network's transaction throughput is anticipated to extend from 60 million to 80 million in January, which the market may not have priced in yet.
Analysts expect an “upward breakout” for Ether
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows ETH trading at $3,061, up 2.5% within the last 24 hours.
As Cointelegraph reported, breaking $3,200 is vital to ETH's upside potential and sets the stage for a possible rise to $4,000.
“Ethereum is preparing for a breakout to the upside,” said Michael van de Poppe, founding father of MN Capital, in Ether evaluation on X.
“Another test of key resistance that might mean a breakout is probably going after this variety of tests,” the analyst said, referring to the $3,100-$3,200 resistance that rejected recovery attempts earlier this month.
Van de Poppe said that the altcoin is making a “clear uptrend,” an indication that buyers are able to enter at ever higher levels.
“I expect this to interrupt out to the upside and the subsequent goal zone for that might be $3,650 to $3,700.” 
ETH/USD day by day chart. Source: Michael van de Poppe
According to Bitcoinsensus, Ether stays bullish inside a “widening channel structure,” which could cause the ETH/USD pair to start out moving towards the upper band of the pattern.
“The potential upside goal is around $7,000.” 
ETH/USD chart. Source: Bitcoinsensus
As Cointelegraph reported, the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $3,150 is a critical level for bulls to beat, as a break above could push ETH price towards $3,450 and later $4,000.
This article doesn’t contain any investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading activity involves risks and readers should conduct their very own research when making their decision. While we attempt to offer accurate and up-to-date information, Cointelegraph doesn’t guarantee the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the data in this text. This article may contain forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph won’t be responsible for any loss or damage arising out of your reliance on this information.
This article doesn’t contain any investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading activity involves risks and readers should conduct their very own research when making their decision. While we attempt to offer accurate and up-to-date information, Cointelegraph doesn’t guarantee the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the data in this text. This article may contain forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Cointelegraph won’t be responsible for any loss or damage arising out of your reliance on this information.
