Ethereum holds on despite Aztec exit – Bulls target higher levels

Ethereum rallied to levels seen in late January, touching a three-month high of $2466 before retracing. At press time, Ethereum [$ETH] traded at $2404, up 2.96%, adding to its 7% weekly gains.

With the sustained price uptick, Ethereum whales and institutions have turned to profit realization.

Aztec Network dumps entire $ETH stack

Aztec Network has been aggressively selling its Ethereum holdings over the past three months. In December 2025, the Aztec team sold 1.5 billion AZTEC tokens for 19,388.4 $ETH, worth approximately $59.13 million.

Out of these tokens, 4,235 $ETH, worth $12.93 million, was added to the liquidity pool. The remaining 15,154 $ETH, $47.25 million, has been fully sold over the past three months.

Lookonchain reported the last sale, with the team offloading 5,020 $ETH worth $12.33 million, effectively exiting the market.

The team’s decision to sell is most likely to take profit and finance the operational costs while still supporting the liquidity pool.

In addition to Aztec, other large holders have also increased spending. According to Lookonchain, a wallet linked to Arthur Hayes deposited another 3,000 $ETH worth $7.26 million into Binance.

In total, these two entities sold 8020 $ETH worth $19.59 million. Often, increased selling from large holders has weakened the market structure, leading to lower prices.

Ethereum demand remains steady

Despite increased selling from the above entities, demand for $ETH has remained largely strong. The continued uptrend has pushed buyers to defend higher price levels.

Exchange activity echoes this rising demand. On the 17th of April, over 1.1 million $ETH flowed out of exchanges while 956k $ETH entered exchanges.

As a result, the Exchange Netflow dropped to a monthly low of -160k $ETH. This trend extended at press time, with Exchange Netflow falling to -28.5k $ETH.

A negative NetFlow indicates that more tokens are leaving exchanges than entering. The Exchange Supply Ratio further confirms this decline in exchange deposits.

ESR dropped to 0.125, hovering near a monthly low. Such a drop suggested most traders are buying.

Historically, reduced exchange deposits have reduced supply, thereby strengthening upside momentum and often serving as a prelude to higher prices.

What’s next for $ETH?

Although retraced from the recent jump, the market remains structurally bullish. The altcoin momentum shifted positive two weeks ago and has remained so since.

At the same time, the positive index of the Directional Movement Index (DMI) rose to 27, while the negative index fell to 11.

Typically, when momentum indicators are set in this manner, they signal trend strength and the likelihood of its continuation. Thus, if the market structure holds and demand remains steady, $ETH will flip between $2.4k and $2.8k.

However, if large entities, especially whales and holders, continue to offload, $ETH could drop to $2170.

Final Summary

• Aztec Network dumps 5,020 $ETH for $12.33 million, raising total sales to 15,154 $ETH, $47.25 million.
• Ethereum remains structurally bullish, and bulls eye a move towards $2.8k.