The largest whales on the Ethereum ($ETH) network, meaning the largest addresses by cryptocurrency holdings that do not belong to cryptocurrency trading platforms, have been quietly accumulating Ether this year, to the point their holdings hit more than 25 million tokens.

According to cryptocurrency analytics firm Santiment, these whales have “very quietly” broken a seven-year record over the weekend, as these whales hadn’t held as so much ETH tokens since 2016. The firm noted it expects to “see some critics come out of the woodwork to complain about ETH centralization on this one.”

However, Santiment also pointed out that the number of large whale addresses has been declining, with only 124 addresses holding 100,000 or more ETH currently, compared to a high of 176 in July 2019.

Ethereum’s value has been increasing, currently sitting at $1,630. It is up nearly 1% in the past 24 hours and almost 2.5% in the past seven days. It has also risen roughly 38% since the start of 2023, although it remains over 66% down from its all-time high of $4,800, which it hit in November 2021.

Santiment also revealed that ETH spending has been dominant in the Ethereum ecosystem, outpacing Wrapped ETH, USD Coin, and Tether. An increase in ETH spent with USDT and USDC is particularly encouraging, suggesting that the markets may be poised for growth, the firm said.

Currently, validators can deposit ETH to the Beacon Chain but cannot withdraw it. The report states that since the Beacon Chain’s launch, over 16.5 million ETH has been staked, and noted that the majority of stakers are “underwater and have little financial incentive to sell at the current ETH price.”

The report also notes that Ethereum’s DeFi market dominance has decreased from 96% to 60% since November 2020, while Solana and Polygon have emerged as potential competitors for NFTs.