Key takeaways:

• Ethereum whales accumulated over 818,000 ETH ($2.5B) on June 15, their biggest daily inflow since 2018.

• ETH price is consolidating inside a multimonth range, mirroring its 2017 breakout pattern.

• Analysts see a short-term ETH target at $4,000, with the potential for $10,000.

One of Ethereum’s richest address cohorts is stacking Ether (ETH) at the fastest pace since 2018, strengthening the case for a continued upside move in the cryptocurrency’s price.

Ethereum whales buy over $2.15 billion in ETH

As of June 15, the net position change of Ethereum wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH had jumped by over 818,410 ETH (~$2.5 billion), marking the highest daily inflow for this cohort in more than six years.

These addresses—often associated with funds, early adopters, and whales—were collectively holding more than 16 million ETH on the same day, compared to 11.87 million ETH almost a year ago.

The accumulation spike coincides with a surge in institutional demand via Ether investment funds.

These ETH-focused funds attracted $583 million in the week ending June 13, pushing year-to-date net inflows to $2.28 billion, according to CoinShares’ weekly report.

Ethereum mirroring 2017’s playbook — analyst

Ether’s price has risen 90% in the past two months, led by the optimism around Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade and the restructuring of its foundation’s core team, but it remains trapped inside a multimonth consolidation channel.

For analyst Milkybull Crypto, the price action is similar to what followed a 10x price rally in 2017.

In 2016–2017, ETH ranged inside the $10–20 channel after the DAO hack and Ethereum Classic split. The market lacked conviction, but once the range broke, ETH surged to over $1,500 in under a year thanks to the ICO boom.

In 2024–2025, ETH is again consolidating, this time inside the channel defined by $2,150 and $3,600, while holding above the 50-week (red) and 200-week (blue) exponential moving averages (EMA) supports.

The drivers are different (ETFs, staking, tokenization), but the setup is similar: ETH is coiling below resistance, just as before its last major breakout.

That puts its short-term ETH price target at around $4,000, aligning with the channel’s upper trendline. Multiple analysts have signaled the same upside target for Ethereum in the past.

Related: Ethereum whale opens $11M leveraged bet amid ETH price’s 30% rise potential

Milkybull Crypto anticipates Ethereum to rise even further, noting in May that a $10,000 ETH price target “cannot be ruled out.”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.