No ETH to trade? Ethereum exchange balance drops to a 5-year low

The balance of available Ether (ETH) across crypto exchanges dropped to a five-year low on May 26, bringing the total quantity of Ether hung on exchanges to 17.86 million. An extreme decrease in the exchange supply of ETH like this has actually not been seen considering that April 2018. According to Glassnode information, just 14.85% of the total Ether supply is presently held on centralized exchanges, compared to the 25– 26% of supply held throughout the 2021 bull run.The decrease in Ether exchange balances. Source: GlassnodeThe drop in ETH supply started in September 2022, dropping significantly after the FTX crisis in November. Apart from a decrease in the exchange balance, Ethereum wallet addresses holding more than 100 ETH have also decreased to a six-month low. #Ethereum $ETH Number of Addresses Holding 100+ Coins simply reached a 6-month low of 46,858 View metric: https://t.co/FbjiMG3uFX pic.twitter.com/uzHN7H2qRy— glassnode signals (@glassnodealerts) May 18, 2023

Two significant events might have influenced the decrease in ETH balances on central exchanges in the current past. The first is the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, triggering many to move their crypto possessions from exchange wallets to self-custody wallets; the 2nd, and most essential, is the Shapella upgrade.Shapella made way for thousands of validators to withdraw their staked ETH. In Ethereums case, re-staking ETH is the most obvious factor for the decreasing exchange supply.Related: Ethereum price metrics hint that ETH may not offer off after the Shapella difficult forkMajor crypto exchanges like Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken and others that supported the Shapella upgrade saw a significant outflow of ETH from their exchange wallets, leading to the existing balance decline.ETH withdrawal from crypto exchanges.