Ethereum [ETH] exchange reserves dropped to their lowest levels since 2016, raising hopes of a supply-driven recovery despite the prevailing market weakness.
According to CryptoQuant Community insights, the total ETH exchange reserves declined to roughly 14.5 million ETH on November 2. This decline reportedly marked a 58.6% reduction from the 2020 peak of 35 million ETH.
Over that period, the exchanges have in fact lost around 20.5 million ETH from their cumulative balances.
Notably, Binance registered a similar drop, with reserves falling 37.1% from their 2025 peak of 4.9 million ETH, with its holdings reaching 3.08 million ETH, revisiting levels last seen in late 2020.
It is also worth noting that the reserve drop also coincided with reports of Binance’s October 29 hack, which allegedly caused significant losses.
For context, these security concerns could have encouraged investors to transfer their holdings into self-custody wallets, rather than necessarily indicating stronger accumulation or renewed buying demand.
Bitmine adds $11.22 million as outflows persist
Institutional accumulation has also strengthened despite the token’s recent struggles, with Tom Lee’s Bitmine expanding its ETH holdings.
Lookonchain recently reported on X that Bitmine purchased another 5,000 ETH valued roughly $11.22 million, bringing the total acquisition to 6.065 million ETH, worth nearly $13.7 billion.
The institution now controls around 4.96% of Ethereum’s total supply, strengthening its significant exposure to the asset.
Meanwhile, CoinGlass analytics highlighted that Ethereum’s Spot netflows remained negative, registering approximately $7.91 million in net outflows at press time.
Bitmine’s continued purchases, together with the negative Spot netflows, reinforced the declining immediate selling pressure picture.
Bullish bets return as funding turns positive
Traders on the derivatives market also showed renewed optimism despite Ethereum’s recent market weakness. In particular, ETH’s OI-Weighted Funding Rate had recovered to 0.0101% at press time, returning to positive territory after an earlier brief negative reading.
This recovery implied that long traders were paying shorts, which reflected fresh demand for bullish leveraged positions.
Besides, Binance’s top trader Long/Short Ratio revealed a considerable preference for long positions, with the long accounts representing 70.2% of top traders, compared to 29.8% holding short positions.
These readings together suggested that market participants were increasingly optimistic for price recovery despite the prevailing downward trend.
Ethereum defends $2,243 as rebound hopes grow
Ethereum’s defense of the $2,243 support level validated the hopes of a price rebound despite the prevailing bearish market outlook.
Following the defense, Ethereum’s market value sat at $2,254 as of writing time, positioning itself around the middle of its descending channel.
More importantly, the RSI indicator stood at 33.23, approaching oversold conditions and raising the possibility of selling exhaustion.
The Money Flow Index (MFI) meanwhile reached 37.18, highlighting relatively weak capital inflows despite the successful defense of the support level.
Overall, Ethereum’s declining exchange reserves, Bitmine accumulation, and bullish derivatives positioning favored the possibility of a rebound.
A continued buying above $2,243 could strengthen that outlook, while reclaiming the $2,385 resistance would provide stronger confirmation of a sustained recovery.
Final Summary
- Ethereum exchange reserves hit decade-old lows as Bitmine continued accumulating ETH.
- ETH’s defense of $2,243 support could pave the way for recovery toward $2,385.