Ethereum Is Headed for Poorest October Since 2018 as Old Wallets Stir

This October, Ethereum (ETH) is seeing both new and old money pull away at once. US spot ETFs have recorded roughly $1.35 billion in outflows, while wallets that had sat dormant for years shifted more than $140 million in ETH.

So far this month, the price has fallen 13.6%, which puts the cryptocurrency on course for its poorest October since 2018.

Wallets From Ethereum's Early Days Have Started to Stir

From October 5 through 29, blockchain monitoring services flagged more than 10 large transfers involving wallets that had been idle for a long time. Combined, those transfers amounted to roughly 56,000 ETH.

Four of the 5 largest went directly to Coinbase or Kraken.

The biggest of them took place on October 5, when one wallet sent 13,330 ETH — about $36.37 million — to Coinbase. Its owner reportedly bought 170,000 ETH during the 2015 ICO at $0.31.

Three days later, Lookonchain reported that pinosaur.eth unstaked 9,618 ETH and deposited it with Kraken. In a separate case, wallets reportedly connected to the Ethereum Foundation moved about 14,770 ETH on 3 separate days.

The most recent move came on October 29, when a wallet inactive for 3 years sent its entire 2,119 ETH balance to Coinbase.

Many Ethereum OGs are waking up and dumping $ETH!

After 3 years of inactivity, an Ethereum OG wallet (0x6D30) deposited all 2,119 $ETH ($4.99M) into #Coinbase 7 hours ago.

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) October 29, 2026

Sending tokens to an exchange makes them available for sale, but on-chain data cannot confirm whether a sale actually took place.

Ethereum ETFs Saw Outflows Through the Month

The whale activity came during a period when ETF investors were also retreating. According to SoSoValue, US spot Ethereum ETFs posted net outflows on 17 of October's 20 trading days through October 28.

October's cumulative outflows came to roughly $1.35 billion, the second-largest monthly outflow on record. The only larger monthly total was November 2025, at $1.42 billion.

October now sits about $78 million below that mark with 2 trading days remaining. The largest single-day outflow was October 6, when the funds shed $201.89 million.

ETH was trading at $2,328.57 at press time, 0.95% lower over 24 hours, according to BeInCrypto Markets. CryptoRank data show ETH finished higher in 7 of the previous 11 Octobers. The last October that posted a deeper drop was 2018, at 15.5%.

Support Levels Ethereum Needs to Defend in November

Amid ETF outflows and old coins moving to exchanges, analysts are now looking at support levels. Ted Pillows anticipates one further decline.

$ETH looks like it wants to dump more.

No strong buying, and every support zone is getting lost.

IMO, Ethereum could revisit the $2,200 level soon, which will most likely be the bottom zone.

— Ted (@TedPillows) October 27, 2026

He went on to say that a move back above $2,400 would be the first major sign of strength. More Crypto Online predicts another down leg while ETH remains below $2,522. A slide through $2,295 would be the first signal, with support found from $2,207 to $1,725.

CryptoRank data show ETH dropped in 6 of 11 Novembers, with a median loss of 5.18%. The average for November, by contrast, comes in at +4.28%.

Traders are likely to keep an eye on whether ETF outflows ease and whether ETH can stay above $2,295.