Ethereum spot demand surges as exchange reserves drop
Ethereum (ETH)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
Bitcoinethereumnews.com reports that Ethereum is experiencing strong spot buying pressure before leverage enters the market. A whale wallet acquired 5,425 ETH for $13.55 million near $2,498, while another address received 40,000 ETH worth $100.09 million from Binance. Over eight trading days, BlackRock’s ETHA ETF recorded $889.8 million in net purchases, contributing to nearly $1 billion in visible demand.
Exchange reserves have fallen to 14.93 million ETH, a decline observed for most of the year. This reduction in available supply coincides with improving demand, making the market more sensitive. The Coinbase Premium Index is positive at 0.029, indicating higher trading activity on Coinbase compared to other exchanges.
Open interest stands near $14.5 billion, which remains well below earlier 2026 highs. This suggests the current accumulation phase is spot-led and healthy. However, the report notes that if open interest rises faster than price, the situation could become risky.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ETH, measured when this story was written up on 29 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio data shows a buy ratio of 64.9% over the last hour, indicating strong immediate buying pressure. This contrasts with a 54.1% buy ratio over four hours and a 46.3% ratio over 24 hours, suggesting short-term buying is outpacing longer-term trends. The one-hour volume delta is positive at $5,416,772, while the 24-hour delta is negative at -$65,711,416. A positive volume delta means buyers are more aggressive than sellers, while a negative delta indicates sellers are dominating over the full day. The shift from negative 24-hour delta to positive 1-hour delta shows buying pressure is building in the immediate term.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.8% sits at the 16th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.5% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What ETH did over the 23 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ETH, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.8%, compared to a 46.3% ratio in the last 24 hours. This represents a 4.5 point decrease in buying dominance compared to the weekly average. Spot volume was 0.85x the average, indicating lower activity than usual. Net buying occurred on five of the seven days, with a total volume delta of +$119,917,358. This is an ordinary day for the coin, as buying pressure remains near historical averages despite lower volume.