Ethereum 
$2,804.64While ETH continues to be withdrawn from exchanges at an extraordinary pace in recent weeks, new data indicating that the ETH supply in circulation has tightened has revived the agenda of the crypto market. According to Glassnode and CryptoQuant data, only 8.84% of ETH is held on exchanges. This rate is Bitcoin 
$86,989.86It is at 14.8% in . In other words, the supply of ETH on the exchanges has decreased to almost half of BTC.
Staking and DeFi Are Sweeping ETH Supply from Exchanges
Onchain Foundation Research Head Leon Waidmann states that the biggest reason for the decrease in the amount of ETH in the exchanges is staking. There are millions of ETH in staking contracts locked in the Ethereum network. In addition, DeFi applications also create serious attraction; Instead of keeping their ETHs in exchanges, users invest them in liquidity pools, collateral mechanisms and restaking platforms.
Lucca Rassele, head of digital asset initiatives at MPM Labs, points out that ETH/BTC comparisons are misleading: “These two assets have completely different functions.” However, Derek Little, CEO of Innovative App World, attributes the reason why ETH is being withdrawn from more exchanges directly to its usage areas: “The hype era is now over; the main issue in crypto is interoperability.”
Glassnode data also supports this view. November data reveals that ETH investors moved, sold and spent much more than BTC investors. Because the Ethereum network runs hundreds of applications and ETH is actively consumed as a gas fee.
Bitcoin investors, on the other hand, mostly adopt the “digital gold” approach. The fact that more than 61% of the BTC supply has not moved for more than a year confirms this picture.
Institutional Demand Increases: ETFs and DATs Are Pulling ETH from Exchanges
Another critical reason for ETH’s exit from stock exchanges is the increase in institutional demand. Approximately 25% ETH supply is locked in ETFs and local staking structures. This reinforces the “dual role” of ETH as both a utility and a store of value.
On the DeFi side, the picture is similar: 16% of Ethereum supply is actively used in liquid staking protocols and collateral structures. Glassnode states that ETH carries a rare dual function as both a reserve asset and the fuel of DeFi.
ETFs and institutional investment products are also accelerating ETH outflows. ETFs currently hold 5.24% of the ETH supply, while DATs hold 4.9%. The increasing buying appetite of these institutions throughout the year visibly reduced the ETH balance on the exchanges.
Another recent development that supports this picture was included in CoinShares’ report last week: There was a net inflow of over 170 million dollars into institutional investment products, and a significant part of these inflows occurred on the Ethereum side. Analysts state that this wave will play a critical role in determining ETH price movements in the coming period.
