Scotland Yard this week called off its multimillion-pound 24-hour surveillance, saying the operation is no longer proportionate.
The founder of WikiLeaks, and an Australian national, sought political asylum at the embassy in June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden where prosecutors want to question him over rape allegations.
In August, Swedish prosecutors dropped their two other claims - one of sexual molestation and one of unlawful coercion - because they ran out of time to question him.
The most serious charges do not run out until 2020.
The cost of having a police presence outside the embassy is upwards of 11 million, so far.
That includes police overtime and paying officers who would have been deployed elsewhere.
But the United Kingdom Government has reiterated its commitment to arresting Mr Assange if he leaves the embassy.
The latest development comes as the United Kingdom ratchets up pressure on Ecuador to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden.
The Foreign Office says it has a legal obligation to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden.
There is a deep sense of frustration from both supporters and opponents about Mr Assange's ongoing situation.
Mr Assange, and his supporters, argue the Swedish investigation is politically motivated and will be used as a way to speed up his extradition to the United States, where he says he will be tried for publishing thousands of classified government documents through the WikiLeaks website.
The US has not charged Mr Assange nor issued an extradition request for him.
Sweden's extradition agreement with the United States was signed in October 1961 and updated in March 1983.
It prohibits extradition on the basis of ''a political offence'' or ''an offence connected with a political offence''.
But his supporters fear that he could be snatched by the CIA and spirited away to the US, regardless of the extradition treaty.
Supporters say they do not know why the police have abandoned their 24-hour presence but expect the covert operation will be increased and Mr Assange will be arrested if he steps out of the embassy.
The move comes ahead of an expected ruling by a United Nations working group on arbitrary detention which supporters expect to find in favour of Mr Assange.
There are no immediate plans for Mr Assange to leave the embassy and the Ecuadorian authorities have stated he can remain in the embassy as long as he wishes.
Since the WikiLeaks release of data on to the internet, many of the documents have proved to be accurate, causing tension among allies.
Even New Zealand has been involved in the spying claims and counter claims.
It is likely the US, and other countries, still seek revenge on Mr Assange and as time goes on, his supporters will become fewer.
He is said to be a difficult person with whom to deal, and alienated some of his financial backers when he fled to the embassy and they lost the bail money they put up on his behalf.
There remain serious allegations in Sweden for Mr Assange to address but he refuses to leave the safety of the embassy to front the charges of rape.
What next for the fugitive remains unclear, but his next actions are important.
One possibility being considered is Mr Assange being appointed as Ecuador's representative to the UN and hustled out in an official car under the protection of diplomatic immunity.
All that will do is delay the inevitable. At some stage, Mr Assange will need to face an international audience and explain his actions.
A new presence on social media - he signed up to Twitter last week - is not enough to genuinely clear his name of the allegations.
