Стейкинг подрывает ликвидность Ethereum: биржевые балансы падают на фоне оптимизма роста Translation: Staking Undermines Ethereum Liquidity: Exchange Balances Decline Amid Growth Optimism

The market share of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been declining for six consecutive months, as noted by Santiment specialists.

In July 2024, Ethereum’s exchange balances peaked at 12.31 million coins. By January 2026, this figure had decreased to 8.15 million ETH.

Experts anticipate that the outflow of assets from trading platforms will continue, given the weak price dynamics of Ethereum. Over the past month, the asset has been trading within a narrow range of $2900 to $3300.

As of the time of writing, the price of the leading altcoin is approximately $2940.

Analysts highlighted that a major factor behind the liquidity decrease is the heightened interest in staking, with 36.5 million coins locked in the network — accounting for 30% of the total cryptocurrency supply.

The queue for validation has reached a record high of 3.7 million coins, and the waiting period for entry has grown to 64 days.

Analysts view the current trend as a technical correction for retesting support levels before a potential resumption of growth.

A specialist known as Annie pointed out that technical analysis based on the Wyckoff method indicates a potential breakout for the cryptocurrency above the $10,000 mark.

“The structure is complete; we just need to wait for the final breakout. Once the market starts, it will surge vertically. The target price for ETH is $10,000,” she wrote.

Another analyst, operating under the pseudonym Bitcoinsensus, shares this optimism, deeming Ethereum reaching $10,000 in the current cycle as «still a feasible scenario.»

Researcher Crypto Caesar specified a condition for such growth: the asset needs to break through the monthly resistance in the $4500-5000 range.

Short-term forecasts are more cautious. Following an unsuccessful test of the $3000 level, investor Ted Pillows pointed out the possibility of a decline to the $2800-2850 zone, which held up during tests last week.

Trader Daan Crypto Trades called the $2800 mark «the most significant area for Ethereum in its entire history.»

“The number of tests at this $2800 level from both sides in the current cycle is truly impressive,” he wrote.

It is worth noting that after the Fusaka upgrade, activity in the Ethereum mainnet surpassed metrics of L2 solutions.

Analysts at JPMorgan questioned the long-term sustainability of the metrics associated with the blockchain of the second-largest cryptocurrency.