Ethereum is quietly accumulating strength: long-term holders are increasing their ETH holdings against the market trend, and institutional shifts indicate a change?

Recently, Ethereum (ETH) seems low-key, but off-chain currents are surging. A key signal stands out: Ethereum long-term holders (LTH) —— those who are not afraid of short-term fluctuations, the "diamond hands" —— are quietly continuing to accumulate ETH. Even when prices fluctuated narrowly between $2,470 and $2,680 in June (lacking directional breakthroughs), their wallet balances continued to steadily grow. This low volatility accumulation pattern, combined with historical experience, often indicates a potential market turning point.

Where does long-term confidence come from? One of the core driving forces comes from the successful implementation of the Ethereum Petra upgrade at the beginning of the year. This smooth upgrade has significantly enhanced the network's scalability and performance in the background, which is a substantial progress valued by ETH long-term investors. The market is gradually forming a consensus: the infrastructure of Ethereum is gradually realizing its grand vision. On-chain data from CryptoQuant shows that the LTH Wallet inflow has significantly diverged from price trends — this bullish on-chain signal usually indicates that savvy capital is accumulating at lower prices, even if the price has not yet started to rise.

Institutional layout shifts, Ethereum becomes the new favorite Not only are retail investors taking action, but institutions are also quietly adjusting their strategies. Recently, the most attention-grabbing event is undoubtedly the Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company Bit Digital. The company has recently announced that it will cease Bitcoin mining and instead fully commit to Ethereum staking (ETH Staking). An even more significant change is that its financial reserve strategy is shifting from Bitcoin (BTC) to Ethereum (ETH), which marks a major strategic shift.

Bit Digital (BTBT) today announced that the company has raised approximately $162.9 million in net proceeds through a stock offering and plans to use these funds to establish an Ethereum treasury and undergo a business transformation.

Bit Digital has decided to convert approximately 417.6 Bitcoins (worth about $44.9 million) currently held into ETH. Data shows that the company has been accumulating and staking Ethereum since 2022, and by the end of the first quarter of 2025, its Ethereum holdings will reach 24,434.2 ETH, with a total value exceeding $59.8 million.

At the same time, well-known analyst Tom Lee (Fundstrat) has joined BitMine Immersion as chairman, and the company is raising $250 million to focus on developing the Ethereum ecosystem strategy. Tom Lee emphasized that Ethereum's core role in the stablecoin infrastructure far exceeds the value of its tokens themselves.

With the explosive rise of stablecoins in traditional finance (TradFi), Ethereum's core position as the underlying platform is becoming increasingly prominent. Institutional funds are targeting this "foundation" value rather than short-term speculation.

Fusaka upgrade is imminent, igniting market expectations What adds to the icing on the cake is that Ethereum's next major network upgrade — Fusaka Upgrade — is coming soon. Although the specific date is not yet determined, it is expected to bring more technical performance enhancements and may act as a catalyst for ETH price. Currently, ETH is hovering around $2,450, appearing calm on the surface, but market sentiment is turning cautiously optimistic. Traders are closely watching: long-term holders continue to accumulate coins, institutional strategies are shifting, and the upcoming upgrade, with multiple factors overlapping, the signs of Ethereum gearing up are becoming increasingly evident. Thus, it can be seen that while the Ethereum market appears calm on the surface, there are turbulent undercurrents off-chain.