According to recent data shared by Santiment Intelligence, Ethereum’s recent surge past $2,600 follows the return of whale activity, an impressive record of non-empty wallets, and broader developments on the staking front.
Although increased whale trading does not necessarily indicate outright accumulation since large transfers can represent both a buy and a sell, the actual price movements of the underlying asset were leaning toward buys.
The number of wallets hits a new record
Data from the information provided Remarks that the number of non-empty Ethereum wallets reached a new record of over 207 million. The figure suggests that ETH ownership continues to spread even after months of relatively weak price action. At the same time, a substantial portion of Ethereum’s circulating supply remains dedicated to the network rather than lying dormant.
With entities like Bitmine actively staking their significant tokens, the number of ETH currently staked has grown to over 40 million. Additionally, Ethereum continues to hold the top spot in terms of total value locked in decentralized finance with approximately $50 billion.
This combination highlights a broader point behind the latest rally that took the largest altcoin from below $2,400 a few days ago to over $2,600 now. Ethereum’s investment case does not rely solely on short-term price speculation. Instead, ETH remains deeply entrenched in staking, stablecoins, lending, DEXs, and other DeFi applications.
Additionally, using the network has become increasingly cheaper, with average transaction fees falling below $0.1, down more than 85% from its peak in April this year of $0.72.
Can ETH Keep Pumping?
Improving on-chain context occurs as the underlying asset moves closer to another important technical area. Popular analyst Ted Pillows described the current resistance zone as a major obstacle in ETH’s path to recovery, with a sustained breakout potentially opening the door to new local highs.
In the short term, pillows said that if ETH closes above $2,550 this week, it will solidify its chances of reaching $2,900 to $3,000, as Ali Martinez recently predicted. However, a longer time frame could be even more positive for the altcoin, as Pillows set a massive target of up to $10,000 as the asset has “a lot of catch-up to do with the global supply of M2.”
Ethereum has a lot of catching up to do with the global supply of M2.
The $10,000 ETH goal remains the goal by 2029. pic.twitter.com/u8M7KN9ywZ
– Ted (@TedPillows) September 19, 2026
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