Wallets holding more than 1,000 ETH reduced combined holdings by about 1.7 million ETH between May and August, a roughly 2.9% decline from 58.64 million to 56.91 million ETH, Santiment data showed. Much of the redistribution aligned with staking and strategic repositioning rather than open-market dumping, as ETH on exchanges and related large balances fell from about 7.07 million to 6.54 million and smaller 1-to-10 ETH wallets raised their share of circulating supply above 4.5%. Staked ETH climbed from 39 million to a record 42.3 million coins, a staking ratio near 35%, helping absorb selling pressure linked to U.S. spot ether ETFs in the second quarter. Since July those ETFs have turned net buyers, taking in more than 34,000 ETH this week alone—the strongest demand stretch since last October—and ethereum has surged about 26% on the week to around $2,500, reversing losses from the June low near $1,500. Options flow shows concentrated call interest at $2,500 for end-August and at $2,900–$3,000 into September, with heavy put volume at $2,000 framed as a potential floor, though the implied chance of $3,000 by next month remains about 12.5%.