Ethereum nearing supply shortage? BitMine has swallowed 319,000 ETH in a week, and the coin price may surge to $15,000 by the end of the year.

On-chain analysis shows that Ethereum is facing a severe supply shock, primarily driven by two forces: first, the frenzy of institutional Large Investors hoarding, with reports that BitMine Immersion purchased an astonishing 319,000 ETH in just one week; second, record staking volumes locking up a large amount of Ethereum removed from the circulating market. Despite a recent surge in the validator withdrawal queue signaling a short-term bearish outlook, the subsequent high demand for staking reversed the market narrative. Analysts believe that this supply-demand imbalance could drive the price of Ethereum to reach $15,000 by the end of the year.

Institutional Massive Purchases Ignite Supply Crisis

The Amazing Moves of BitMine: Paul Barron pointed out on the X platform that BitMine Immersion Company absorbed 319,000 ETH in just one week, which is equivalent to 0.26% of the total supply of Ethereum being removed from the circulating market. Public information shows that BitMine Immersion is a publicly traded company chaired by Tom Lee, and its strategic focus has shifted from Bitcoin mining to becoming the largest Ethereum enterprise treasury in the world.

The "mathematical inevitability" of supply shortages: The article infers that if this purchasing pace continues, BitMine may need another 4.1 million ETH within the remaining 13 weeks of 2025. Considering that the liquidity supply on exchanges is only 11 million ETH, if three to four more similar institutions follow suit, the market will face a supply crisis even more severe than in 2021. Barron believes that this inter-institution "FOMO" (fear of missing out) sentiment is spreading and predicts that the price of Ethereum will reach $15,000 in December, calling it a "mathematical inevitability."

On-chain Data Support: Staking Volume Hits New Highs

Staking data reversal narrative: Despite the bearish signal of a surge in validators exiting the queue to nearly 1 million ETH at the end of August, this narrative has completely reversed. Currently, the number of validators entering the queue has risen to 787,085 ETH, with a 14-day wait required to complete the staking, indicating that market confidence has strongly returned. At the same time, the exit queue has significantly decreased to 616,898 ETH, indicating that fewer validators are leaving the network, and selling pressure is rapidly dissipating.

Stake volume and supply squeeze: Currently, the Ethereum network has over 1 million active validators, with a total stake of 35.6 million ETH, accounting for 29.4% of the total supply. As analyst Bull Theory stated, the supply squeeze unfolds like this: initially slow progress, but as liquidity tightens and more ETH is locked, everything will suddenly accelerate.

Conclusion

Overall, the supply dynamics of Ethereum are constructing a strong bullish narrative. On one hand, institutions represented by BitMine Immersion are absorbing ETH at an unprecedented rate; on the other hand, on-chain staking data also shows that the market's long-term confidence is strengthening, with a large amount of ETH locked in the network. However, despite these on-chain signals providing strong support, price predictions like $15,000 are still very bold. It is crucial to separate these verifiable on-chain data from bold price predictions in investment decisions.