Ethereum long-term holders climbed in 2024 as Bitcoin holders fell

The number of long-term Ether holders steadily increased throughout 2024, while the number of Bitcoin holders fell over the last year amid rising confidence in ETH heading into the new year. 

In a Dec. 30 post to X, citing data from its platform, IntoTheBlock shared that the total percentage of Ether (ETH $3,421.51) who had held their tokens for the long haul had risen from 59% in January to 75% by the end of 2024.

Source: IntoTheBlock

Meanwhile, the number of long-term Bitcoin (BTC $93,711) holders witnessed a steady decline from about 70% to 62% in the same timeframe. 

As of Dec. 30, the proportion of long-term Bitcoin holders stood at 62.3% while the proportion of long-term Ethereum holders was at 75.1%.

IntoTheBlock has previously described long-term holders as those holding an asset for more than a year.

While this metric is one of many that investors can look at to gauge market sentiment toward major crypto assets, a continued shift toward long-term holding for ETH also suggests growing confidence in the asset heading into 2025. 

In a Dec. 17 post to X, technical analyst Ger Van Lagen said Bitcoin’s price was “blowing off,” with BTC later dropping from an all-time high of $106,000 to $93,000 between Dec. 16 and Dec. 30. 

Source: Gert Van Lagen

Van Lagen suggested this move was driven largely by long-term holders cashing out amid a period of euphoria and maintained a distinctly bullish outlook on BTC, predicting the asset was on track to surpass $200,000 in the near future. 

Meanwhile, in the last month, inflows into spot Ether ETFs have doubled, surging from $1 billion in net inflows in November to $2.1 billion worth of cumulative net inflows in December.

Several experts from different sectors of the crypto industry said that a Trump administration will prove beneficial to ETH in particular. 

They cited a swathe of new developments for taking a bullish stance on ETH heading into 2025, ranging from the demise of “financial nihilism,” a complete overhaul of the SEC, the addition of staking to Ether ETFs and increased regulatory oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).