Ethereum’s institutional demand is weakening around the same time derivatives positioning shows traders are selling aggressively without yet breaking the broader price structure.
US spot ETH exchange-traded funds recorded $50.76 million of net outflows on Oct. 5, extending their losing streak to five consecutive sessions, according to SoSoValue data. The products have shed $205.88 million since Sept. 29, reducing cumulative net inflows to about $13.75 billion.
The streak followed a $17.1 million inflow on Sept. 28 and has coincided with ETH trading near $2,711, leaving one of the market’s major sources of incremental demand in retreat.
Yet the pressure has not spread uniformly across Ethereum’s investor base.
Blockchain analytics firm Santiment said Ethereum’s Age Consumed metric surged to 580 million token-days on Sept. 30, roughly nine times its September weekday average and the highest reading since June 2. The indicator tracks previously dormant coins moving onchain, weighted by how long they had remained untouched.
Large spikes can signal that long-term holders are repositioning assets and, in some cases, preparing to sell. Aggregate exchange balances, however, barely changed across Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
Ethereum held on exchanges rose by only about 18,000 ETH on Sept. 30 before falling roughly 21,000 ETH the next day, against approximately 5.9 million ETH held on trading venues. When Age Consumed last registered a larger spike on June 2, exchange balances increased by more than 140,000 ETH.
That contrast leaves open the possibility that the September activity reflected custody transfers, staking movements or wallet reorganizations rather than broad distribution by older holders.
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