Ethereum has recorded strong cash flow in 2025, pushing the price above $3,600 and generating great expectations from investors. However, a noteworthy development is emerging: more than 350,000 ETH — equivalent to about 1.3 billion USD — is currently lined up waiting to unstake. This raises a big question: Is Ethereum facing selling pressure, or is it just part of an asset allocation strategy?
350,000 ETH Waiting to Unstake — A Sign of Selling Pressure?
Famous investor Udi Wertheimer has raised concerns upon discovering a large amount of ETH waiting to be withdrawn from staking. According to him:
"The last time there was a large amount of ETH unstaked was in January 2024, after ETH/BTC increased by 25% in a week. As a result, the price of ETH dropped shortly after."
Unstaking ETH means that users want to withdraw their assets from staking contracts, turning them into freely tradable ETH. If a large portion of this is sold, selling pressure on the market could increase significantly — especially after ETH has risen by 160% since the April low. Notably, an unstaking of over 500,000 ETH at the beginning of 2024 occurred just before ETH dropped sharply from $4,000 to $2,100.
What Will ETH Unstake Be Used For?
However, not everyone believes that this unstaking move is for panic selling. Viktor Bunin – an expert at Coinbase – believes that the amount of ETH could be transferred to treasury funds of organizations, serving long-term investment goals or portfolio diversification. If that's the case, then this is not a bad sign but could instead help stabilize the market in the long run.
Whales and Institutions are Increasing Purchases
Data from Lookonchain shows that since July 1, at least 23 large organizations have accumulated a total of 681,103 ETH (worth approximately 2.57 billion USD).
And this is not stopping yet. In the fourth week of July, institutions continued to pour in billions of dollars to buy more ETH.
"The Ether Machine Fund announced that it holds 1.5 billion USD in ETH. Tom Lee (Fundstrat) claims to have bought 20 billion USD in ETH, while Joseph Lubin participated with 5 billion USD. Perhaps there won't be enough ETH for everyone," investor Ryan Sean Adams shared.
ETH Being Staked Remains High — A Different Perspective
Although there are concerns about unstaking, the amount of ETH waiting to be staked is even larger. Data from ValidatorQueue shows that in recent days, over 450,000 ETH are lined up waiting to be staked — surpassing the amount waiting to be unstaked.
This indicates that investors are still very interested in participating in the Ethereum network through staking, a popular form of passive income in DeFi.
Additionally, according to beaconcha.in, over 35.7 million ETH is being staked, accounting for about 29.5% of the total circulating supply — a very healthy ratio.
Conclusion: Panic Selling or Restructuring?
The current game is not just about selling or holding. It reflects the battle between inflows and outflows from Ethereum's staking ecosystem.
If the unstaked amount is for profit-taking, then ETH may face pressure in the short term. But if it is merely a strategy for asset restructuring, coupled with whales and institutions continuing to accumulate, then the medium and long-term outlook for ETH remains very positive.
👉 Investors need to closely monitor the changes between the amount of staked and unstaked ETH to make appropriate decisions during this volatile period.
