While the Ethereum price has fallen significantly from its peaks in the last year, increased activity on the network and institutional investor interest have highlighted the divergence between the market price and fundamental indicators. Bitwise’s latest quarterly staking report pointed out that usage in the Ethereum ecosystem has strengthened and the amount of staked ETH has reached a record level.
Bitwise Head of On-Chain Research Kam Benbrik said there is a serious disconnect between the key indicators of major blockchain networks and investors’ market perception. According to Benbrik, although the Ethereum price remained below 2025 levels, network usage costs decreased and activity on the chain increased.
The report stated that the decline in network revenues was mainly due to protocol changes aimed at making Ethereum block space cheaper and more accessible. For this reason, it was emphasized that the decline in revenues does not directly mean that user demand or network activities have weakened.
Amount of Staked Ethereum Broke a Record
The amount of assets staked in Ethereum validator pools hit an all-time high, reaching 40.2 million ETH at the end of the second quarter. This amount corresponds to approximately one-third of Ethereum’s total supply.
Bitwise reported that the majority of ETH added to validator pools in 2026 came from institutional investors. Spot ETFs and companies’ cryptocurrency reserve creation activities were cited as among the main sources of this demand.
Ethereum’s annualized staking return in the second quarter was calculated as 2.84 percent. However, it was stated that 93 percent of staking rewards consist of new ETH issuance, not network fees. Bitwise pointed out that investors who do not stake their ETH may face the risk of their shares being diluted due to new supply.
According to the report, increasing staking participation may reduce return rates in the future, as it will lead to total rewards being shared among more validators. Bitwise also stated that liquid staking products can be an alternative for investors who want to both generate staking income and provide liquidity in decentralized finance applications or make secured borrowing.
Net Inflows in Ethereum ETFs
Spot Ethereum ETFs traded in the US recorded net inflows totaling $9.31 million on July 27 (yesterday). According to Trader T data, BlackRock’s ETHA fund was the most invested product of the day with an inflow of $11.75 million.
While there was an inflow of $80 thousand to BlackRock’s staking-focused ETHB fund, $2.52 million came out of Invesco’s QETH fund. There was no clear money movement in other Ethereum ETFs on a daily basis.
Whales and Companies Accumulate ETH
It was observed that large investors continued to accumulate Ethereum in parallel with corporate fund inflows. According to data from Lookonchain, a newly created wallet with address 0x49D9 withdrew 2,101 ETH from Binance. The total value of the assets at the time of the transfer was approximately $3.95 million.
The on-chain analytics platform reported that it has detected multiple whale wallets accumulating Ethereum recently.
A wallet believed to be linked to BitMine also received 7,500 ETH from crypto custody company BitGo. The value of the transaction detected by EmberCN was calculated as approximately 14.61 million dollars. The analyst evaluated the transfer in question as a new part of BitMine’s ongoing Ethereum accumulation.
Ethereum as of July 28 CryptoAppsy According to data, while it was traded at $ 1,881, it lost nearly 4 percent of its value in the last 24 hours. Despite short-term pressure on the price, record staking, ETF inflows, and large wallet transfers indicate continued long-term interest from institutional investors in Ethereum.
