Ethereum, the leading altcoin by market cap, recently recorded a death cross on its daily chart, meaning that its short-term moving average fell below the long-term one.

According to CryptoQuant contributor ShayanBTC, rising exchange reserves are yet another reason why Ethereum bulls should be worried.

The widely tracked “Ethereum Exchange Reserve” metric shows the total number of tokens that are held across various exchanges is sharply on the rise. This is typically a bearish indicator due to the higher probability of increasing selling pressure.

Conversely, when the number of stablecoins on exchanges experiences a sharp increase, this is usually treated as a bullish signal due to growing buying pressure.

The analyst believes that the leading alternative cryptocurrency is currently stuck in a distribution phase.

A typical market cycle has such phases as the accumulation phase, the markup phase, the distribution phase, and the markdown phase. During the distribution phase, some buyers convert into sellers in order to secure profits. This phase is characterized by somehow subdued volatility and anemic price performance. It is usually perceived as a harbinger of another bear market.

According to data provided by the “Ethereum Fear Greed Index,” the cryptocurrency is currently in the “fear” territory with 30 points out of 100.

The altcoin is currently changing hands at $2,521 after adding 2.3% over the past 24 hours, according to data provided by CoinGecko. As reported by U.Today, Ethereum failed to rally following the introduction of spot ETFs due to underwhelming outflows.