Three Ethereum on-chain signals indicate buyer presence persists

Ethereum (ETH) is showing three on-chain indicators that suggest buyer activity remains, with declining exchange supply, rising priority fees, and a recovery in Binance stablecoin reserves.

The signals emerge after ETH surged from roughly $1,900 to $2,800 and then retreated. According to BeInCrypto Markets data, the token currently stands near $2,678, approximately 8% higher than a week ago.

Ethereum Supply Continues to Exit Exchange Order Books

Data from Santiment indicates that only 3.49% of ETH's total supply remains on monitored exchange wallets. Since June 1, an additional 1.16% of the overall supply has been withdrawn from such platforms.

The analysis firm noted that exchange balances this summer had already fallen to levels not witnessed since Ethereum's early years. The decline continues a downward trend in exchange reserves since January. Reduced exchange supply means fewer tokens are available for immediate sale.

“But it reduces the pool of ETH readily available to hit the market during the next wave of selling,” the firm added.

Staking and DeFi activities account for much of the outflow. Santiment calculates that approximately 35% of ETH is currently staked, and Ethereum-based DeFi protocols hold around $53 billion in total value.

Corporate treasuries also contribute to exchange outflows. BitMine, for instance, holds 5.98 million ETH, with 85% of its stash staked.

“If demand strengthens while available exchange supply stays this scarce, buyers have fewer immediately available coins to compete for,” the team added.

Priority Fees Increase as Traders Vie for Block Space

On the demand side, a CryptoQuant analyst pointed out that priority fees jumped 26.74% in one day, reaching approximately $464,000.

Gas usage, however, rose just 0.26% to around 217.1 billion. The number of blocks mined stayed close to 7,147, ruling out increased block production as the cause of the fee spike.

“The lack of a significant decline in gas usage suggests that demand for Ethereum block space has not weakened substantially despite the price pullback,” the post read.

The analyst interpreted the divergence as users spending more to secure faster transaction processing, indicating fiercer competition for the same block capacity.

Binance Stablecoin Reserves Recover from Recent Lows

XWIN Japan monitored Binance's ERC-20 stablecoin balances, which recovered to roughly $43.8 billion from an August trough of around $42 billion.

The analyst described stablecoins on exchanges as potential purchasing power for Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Still, reserves remain below the approximately $49 billion peak seen earlier in the year.

Potential Risks to the Bullish Signals

Each on-chain indicator comes with limitations. Santiment cautioned that limited exchange supply does not necessarily lead to price increases. XWIN Japan also noted that stablecoin reserves could remain unused or support derivative positions rather than spot buying.

Regarding price, the network activity analyst identified $2,600 to $2,650 as a support range. If that zone holds, a retest of $2,700 to $2,800 could follow.

The analyst warned that a significant decline in priority fees combined with weaker gas usage would put pressure on the $2,600 support. Upcoming trading sessions will reveal whether competition for block space can withstand the easing price momentum.