Ethereum’s Critical Juncture: Whales Accumulate Amid Price Pressure

As major cryptocurrencies grapple with crucial support levels in November 2025, Ethereum presents a complex and divided market picture. Substantial institutional investors are actively accumulating holdings, while price action contends with significant technical resistance. The impending network upgrade could potentially break this stalemate.

Technical Standoff at Key Levels

Chart analysis reveals conflicting signals across different timeframes. While longer-term indicators suggest the formation of a hidden bullish divergence, recent price action demonstrates failed breakout attempts and lower highs. The crucial support zone spanning $3,510 to $3,530 must hold to prevent further downward movement.

The recent decline below the critical $3,590 threshold was accompanied by substantial selling pressure, with volume reaching 338,852 contracts—138% above normal trading activity. This elevated volume indicates genuine institutional selling rather than temporary liquidity gaps.

Institutional Accumulation Versus Retail Distribution

Behind the scenes, a remarkable accumulation pattern is unfolding. Major holders controlling between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH have aggressively added to their positions since April, acquiring 7.6 million additional tokens—representing a 52% increase in holdings.

Even more impressive, addresses holding 1,000 to 100,000 ETH accumulated 1.64 million ETH during October alone, valued at approximately $6.4 billion. These accumulating giants are operating in direct contrast to retail participants, who reduced their collective holdings by 16% over the same period.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Ethereum?

Network Fundamentals Remain Robust

Ethereum’s underlying network metrics continue to demonstrate strength, with 35.7 million ETH currently staked—representing a staking ratio of 29.75%. The ecosystem maintains its appeal with an average staking yield of 3.32% and waiting periods under 25 days for new validators.

The Layer-2 ecosystem shows particularly impressive growth metrics. Base leads the field with 82.24 transactions per second, followed by Arbitrum One processing 24.48 TPS. Collectively, Layer-2 solutions are currently scaling Ethereum’s capacity by a factor of 16.13.

Fusaka Upgrade: Potential Catalyst

Scheduled for December 3, 2025, the Fusaka network upgrade carries significant expectations. The implementation of dedicated data channels for rollups promises to revolutionize scalability while reducing transaction costs. Additionally, the introduction of Peer Data Availability Sampling could lower hardware requirements, potentially enabling broader participation in network validation.

Critical Decision Point Approaches

Ethereum stands at a pivotal crossroads. While institutional accumulation patterns tell a compelling story of long-term confidence, technical indicators remain cautious. If support at $3,510 holds and resistance at $3,590 is overcome, December could bring renewed momentum through the Fusaka upgrade combined with historically strong November performance patterns.

The battle between accumulating whales and selling pressure continues to intensify, with the coming days likely to determine the next significant price direction. Market participants await clarity on whether institutional accumulation will ultimately overpower technical resistance.