Ethereum has recovered over 50% in May. On-chain data is providing new insights into the changing sentiment of Ethereum investors after the Pectra upgrade. As a result, many analysts are now expecting prices to rise higher.
This on-chain data includes ETH withdrawals from exchanges, exchange reserves, and ETH whale accumulation. Over the past month, all these indicators have reached impressive milestones.
Over 1 million ETH withdrawn from exchanges in the past month
According to Cryptorank, the available ETH on centralized exchanges has decreased from over 18 million to nearly 17 million in just one month.
Ethereum Supply on Exchange. Source: Cryptorank"In the past month, over 1 million ETH has been withdrawn from centralized exchanges, accounting for approximately 5.5% of the total ETH held on these platforms. This trend shows users are increasingly choosing to accumulate Ethereum instead of trading. The recent Pectra upgrade, launched on 05/07, may further support this behavior and thus create upward price pressure for Ethereum," Cryptorank stated.
Data from CryptoQuant shows that over 300,000 ETH has been withdrawn from Binance in just the past month. YTD, over 800,000 ETH has been withdrawn from this platform.
This withdrawal activity occurred not only when ETH price dropped sharply below $1,400 in early April but also accelerated as ETH recovered above $2,400 in May.
Moreover, the chart from CryptoRank shows ETH price increasing while exchange reserves decrease, reinforcing the relationship between supply and price.
Additionally, large accumulation addresses have recorded the highest inflows in history. Specifically, CryptoQuant reported that on 05/12, whale wallets accumulated over 325,000 ETH — the highest amount ever recorded in a single day.
Ethereum Inflow Into Accumulation Address. Source: CryptoQuantWhen whales accumulate, they typically withdraw ETH from exchanges to store in Cold Storage. This reduces circulating supply and creates upward price pressure.
Meanwhile, based on a rare technical price pattern emerging in May, analyst TedPillows predicts ETH could soon return to $3,000, an important psychological level.
Ethereum Price's Golden Cross. Source: TedPillows"ETH's Golden Cross has been confirmed. Ethereum $3,000 is coming soon," Ted predicted.
Arthur Hayes predicts Ethereum will outperform Solana
Despite these positive on-chain indicators, ETH's price is still far from its peak. It needs to increase by 70% to surpass its 2024 high, and more than double to reach its all-time high.
Bitcoin analyst PlanB recently called Ethereum "centralized" and "pre-mined", while Zach Rynes argued that ETH lacks a clear economic narrative.
However, in an interview on 05/18, Arthur Hayes offered a different perspective. He acknowledged that despite being often hated, ETH remains the safest blockchain with the highest TVL. He believes ETH could soon overtake Solana.
"I think Ethereum has good prospects of performing better mainly because it is hated a lot. People think Ethereum can't do anything, that they haven't done anything right. But it still has the largest TVL, the most developers, and remains the safest proof-of-stake blockchain. It's true that the price hasn't increased much from 2020 to now. Solana has clearly done very well, from $7 to $172. But if I were to invest a new unit of fiat capital into the system, I think Ethereum could outperform Solana in the next 18-24 months' price surge," Hayes explained.
Moreover, many industry experts go even further. They predict that ETH could overtake Bitcoin, especially as Ethereum becomes increasingly important in real-world assets (RWA) and the broader DeFi ecosystem.
