Ethereum Turns 11: 40.2M ETH Staked, 200M Wallets, and BlackRock Rotates from BTC

Ethereum celebrated its 11th anniversary on July 30, 2026 with a flurry of on-chain milestones that signaled deepening network adoption — even as price action remained subdued. The week brought record staking levels, a major user growth milestone, tactical institutional rotation from Bitcoin into Ethereum, whale accumulation, and a major network upgrade approaching mainnet.

Record Staking: 40.2 Million ETH Locked

Bitwise's Q3 2026 Staking Report confirmed that 40.2 million ETH was staked, representing 33% of total supply — a new all-time high worth roughly $63 billion at then-current prices . The average staking yield declined to 2.84%, reflecting the dilution effect of higher participation alongside stronger network security . Some on-chain data sources put the figure slightly higher at approximately 40.9 million ETH, or 33.5% of supply .

The increase was driven primarily by institutional inflows from staking ETFs and corporate treasuries . The milestone underscores a structural shift in Ethereum's supply dynamics: one in three ether is now committed to securing the network rather than sitting on exchanges available for sale .

200 Million Non-Empty Wallets

Ethereum surpassed 200 million non-empty wallets for the first time in late July 2026, as reported by Santiment . This more than doubled from roughly 100 million in early 2021 and significantly outpaced Bitcoin's approximately 50–60 million address base, giving Ethereum a lead of more than 230% .

The milestone reflects steady user growth across DeFi, NFTs, and stablecoin activity — even as price action remained flat. Analysts noted that adoption kept building despite persistent market fear and negative sentiment .

BlackRock Clients Rotate: $60M Out of Bitcoin, $20M+ Into Ethereum

Data from Arkham Intelligence showed BlackRock clients sold approximately $60 million worth of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and purchased over $20 million in Ethereum instruments (ETHA) during the week of July 29 . This marked a notable tactical rotation from BTC to ETH exposure by institutional clients, suggesting a deliberate reallocation rather than broad risk-off behavior .

The rotation came after a brutal June for Bitcoin ETFs, which saw over $4 billion in net outflows — the worst monthly performance since the products launched in January 2024 — with IBIT accounting for roughly 73% of the redemptions . July saw some recovery, with spot Ethereum ETFs posting approximately $342.9 million in net inflows for the month .

Whale Withdraws 40,000 ETH ($76.58M) from Binance

On July 29–30, Lookonchain and EmberCN monitoring detected a wallet identified as 0x2d59 withdrawing 40,000 ETH, valued at roughly $76.58 million, from Binance in two transactions . The withdrawal reduced sell-side liquidity and was widely interpreted as whale accumulation by analysts .

This was part of a broader trend of large holders moving ETH off exchanges. Another whale address starting with 0x2684 had been steadily accumulating since June 30, withdrawing a total of 49,407 ETH (approximately $84.3 million) and 250 WBTC ($15.66 million) from Binance .

ETH Price Remains Well Below All-Time High

ETH traded near $1,920–$1,930 on its anniversary, up about 30% from its late-June low of $1,540 — but still roughly 61% below its all-time high of $4,951.66, set in August 2025 . Despite the deep discount from its peak, on-chain fundamentals continued to strengthen, illustrating a divergence between price and network adoption .

Glamsterdam Upgrade: Coming September–October 2026

Ethereum's next major hard fork, Glamsterdam, was entering final testing and slated for mainnet deployment in September–October 2026 . The upgrade will introduce enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) and Block-Level Access Lists, changes designed to improve censorship resistance, reduce maximal extractable value (MEV) risks, and streamline block construction at the protocol level .

The upgrade targets a roughly 200 million gas limit to improve network speed and fee efficiency . Glamsterdam follows a series of major upgrades including The Merge (September 2022), Shapella (April 2023), Dencun (March 2024), Pectra (May 2025), and Fusaka (December 2025) .

What This Means for Ethereum

The 11th anniversary data painted a picture of a network that continues to grow its user base and secure its supply through staking, even while price lags. The combination of record staking, an expanding wallet base, institutional rotation, whale accumulation, and an upcoming protocol upgrade suggests that market participants are positioning for a future recovery — but no single metric guarantees a rally. As one analyst noted, staking highs, ETF flows, and Fed decisions don't move in lockstep with anniversaries .