Analysts refute Glassnode data shows ETH whales continue to sell: the data is inaccurate and staking factors are not considered

Odaily News According to data from Glassnode, the number of Ethereum whales holding at least 1,000 ETH (worth approximately $1.5 million) has been in a sharp downward trend since 2020, with 20 million ETH being sold. Bitcoin whales, on the other hand, have been quietly accumulating. The number of addresses holding at least 1,000 BTC (approximately $26.9 million) has remained largely unchanged over the same period (although there have been a few significant drops, possibly due to profit-taking following the FTX crash or the 2021 bull run). It’s worth noting that Glassnode’s data and conclusions appear to be incomplete. Kunal Goel, senior research analyst at Messari, believes that the above data does not take ETH staking into account, explaining: “Transfers to the staking contract may look like an on-chain sale, but it is not.” Crypto asset management company Deutsche Digital André Dragosch, head of research at Assets (DDA), agrees with Goel. He noted that the percentage of ETH supply in smart contracts has been increasing “in tandem”. Dragosch emphasized that Glassnode does not include ETH tied in smart contracts into the whale supply metric mentioned earlier; in fact, the percentage of ETH supply held by the top 1% of addresses has not declined at all. (Decrypt)