Ether holders are underwater by paper, by math and by mood 📉

Ether is the only major token trading below its realized price, with the market sitting around $1,900 against an aggregate holder cost basis near $2,450, leaving investors underwater on paper even as Bitcoin and XRP hold above their own realized levels. Bitcoin trades roughly 17% above its $52,900 realized price, while XRP sits near $1.10 against a realized price of about $0.75, according to onchain analytics firm CryptoQuant.

Large XRP holders have continued accumulating through the token's slide from about $2.40 in January to the current $1.00–$1.20 range, but they are doing so without lifting the market. Average spot order sizes have remained in what CryptoQuant classifies as "big-whale" territory throughout 2026. At the same time, the 90-day taker cumulative volume delta, a measure of whether buyers or sellers are the aggressors in trades, has drifted to neutral after a taker-buy-dominant start to the year. CryptoQuant describes the pattern as a "quiet absorption" and a basing range rather than capitulation or a confirmed breakout.

Ether's holder base is splitting as the price sits below cost. Wallets holding 10,000 to 100,000 ETH have risen from about 14 million ETH in mid-2025 to record highs near 19.6 million now. The 100,000-plus cohort fell to roughly 2.6 million ETH in mid-2025 before climbing to about 4.6 million by May 2026, an addition CryptoQuant put at roughly 1.8 million. The 1,000 to 10,000 cohort has moved the other way, peaking near 15.6 million ETH in January 2026 before falling back as smaller holders reduced exposure.

Onchain data show Ether and Bitcoin whales have been adding to holdings during the downturn, but CryptoQuant has warned the market may still face one more leg lower before a durable floor is established. Ether's below-cost trading is the metric the firm is watching most closely, given the gap between the $1,900 market and the $2,450 realized price across $BTC, ETH and XRP.