A Blockstream executive made waves on social media Saturday with a striking comparison: US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have pulled in roughly the same amount of cumulative investor money as gold ETFs collected over their first 15 years — and Bitcoin did it in less than two. Related Reading: Stablecoin Market Breaks Records — USDC Controls 70% Of $1.8 Trillion Volume The Numbers Behind The Claim Fernando Nikolić, Blockstream’s director of marketing, posted the observation on X, adding that the milestone came during a period when Bitcoin had dropped 46% from its peak and spent several months trending downward. His point was that institutional money kept flowing into Bitcoin products even as prices fell hard. The claim drew attention because gold ETFs had a significant head start in the market — more than a decade — before Bitcoin products even existed. spot bitcoin ETFs matched 15 years of cumulative gold ETF inflows in under two years gold had a fifteen year head start and bitcoin caught it in twenty months absolute cinema ???? and this happened during a 46% drawdown btw during five red months while most of your timeline… pic.twitter.com/TuK5E2WZsq — Fernando Nikolić ???????? ???? (@basedlayer) March 8, 2026 The data backing the broader story comes from SoSoValue, which tracks daily and weekly flows into US spot crypto ETFs. According to that data, Bitcoin ETFs brought in around $568 million this week. The prior week saw roughly $787 million come in. Back-to-back positive weeks like that haven’t happened since early October last year — a stretch of about five months during which money was consistently leaving these funds. Before the recent stretch of inflows, the bleeding was significant. Reports indicate Bitcoin ETFs shed approximately $3.8 billion across five straight weeks of net withdrawals. The worst single week came around January 30, when investors pulled out close to $1.50 billion in one stretch. Day-By-Day, The Picture Gets Messier The weekly totals look clean. The daily breakdown does not. This week, Bitcoin ETFs took in $458 million on Monday, another $225 million on Tuesday, and a strong $462 million on Wednesday. Then the direction flipped. Thursday brought $228 million in outflows, and Friday saw close to $350 million leave the funds. The week ended positive, but just barely held together in the final sessions. Ether ETFs followed a similar pattern on a smaller scale. The funds recorded their second straight week of net inflows, collecting around $23.56 million after posting a little over $80 million the prior week. That two-week run marks the first consecutive weekly gains for Ether products since early October. Before that, five uninterrupted weeks of withdrawals drained more than $1.38 billion from those funds, with the week ending January 23 alone accounting for roughly $611 million in redemptions. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Bleed $349M In A Day As Whales Dump, Small Buyers Step In: Analysts A Rebound With Uneven Footing Two positive weeks for both Bitcoin and Ether ETFs signal a shift, but the daily choppiness tells a more complicated story. Large inflows early in the week gave way to sizable redemptions by Thursday and Friday — a pattern that suggests some investors remain cautious even as fresh money enters. Featured image from Online Casinos, chart from TradingView
Vitalik Buterin has been moving Ether into stablecoins again. According to on-chain data, wallets linked to him carried out a series of swaps on CoW Swap, sending more than 3,100 ETH into stable assets in recent days. Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Spree Nears Century Mark, Saylor Hints Reports from Arkham Intelligence flagged the activity, which lowered his visible balance to just above 224,000 ETH — still a very large holding. Latest Moves And What They Mean The numbers deserve context. A $6 million set of sales is small compared with a multi-hundred-million-dollar stake. Some of the transfers were public and routine. Reports say parts of earlier moves — about $29 million worth — had clear funding purposes. At least $2.3 million of that was used to back projects tied to the foundation’s work. That is a normal use of a treasury when teams need cash for development and grants. Funding And Foundation Plans The sale sequence also fits into a broader plan that was mentioned publicly weeks ago. Buterin signaled that roughly $44.7 million might be offloaded over time while the Ethereum Foundation tightens spending and adopts a more frugal stance. That mild austerity is meant to stretch funds and keep core programs running. Moving assets into stablecoins can be a defensive step: it reduces exposure to price swings while preserving buying power for future spending. Market Reaction And Price Pressure Still, markets are fragile. ETH has fallen, trading under $1,900 and hitting two-week lows in the recent session. The token is down sharply over the past month, and that drop amplifies any news about big holders selling. Prediction markets even assign a high chance that ETH falls to $1,500 before climbing back to $3,000. Traders react to signals; founder moves are a signal. That does not automatically mean the founder is abandoning the project, but it does feed short-term anxiety. Related Reading: XRP Fell Nearly 70% — Could History Repeat With An 835% Surge? Roadmap Talk And Longer View Beyond the cash moves, Buterin has been outspoken about technical direction. He argued the mainnet needs a rethink of how it works with layer-two rollups, and he backed an upgrade aimed at strengthening censorship resistance. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
A misconfigured Chainlink price oracle on DeFi lender Moonwell briefly valued Coinbase Wrapped ETH (cbETH) at about $1 instead of roughly $2,200.
Peter Thiel's Founders Fund held zero shares in ether treasury firm ETHZillan at the end of 2025, per SEC filings.
According to CoinMarketCap, Ethereum changed hands around $2,050 at one point, with a single-session move of about 7%. Reports have disclosed that roughly 30% of the total ETH supply is now locked in staking contracts, a level not seen before. Related Reading: Urgent Crypto Reform: Treasury Secretary Says The Clock Is Ticking That is a big shift in where supply sits, and it matters because locked coins are not available for quick trading. Staking Participation Hits A Record On-chain trackers show a steady climb in staking since early 2023. Back then roughly 15% of the supply was staked; today that figure has roughly doubled. People who lock ETH as validators do it to earn rewards and to help keep the network running. Many of those accounts are built to stay long-term. That matters because long-term holders change how supply and demand play out. Ethereum staking rate just hit a new all-time high. Over 30.5% of all ETH is now staked! Meanwhile ETH is trading at ~$1,950. Since early 2023, the staking rate has gone from ~15% to 30.5% in an almost perfect straight line. Bear market, bull market, crashes, rallies. Doesn’t… pic.twitter.com/8dS4xv7bok — Leon Waidmann (@LeonWaidmann) February 13, 2026 Liquid Supply Has Shrunk When a chunk of coins is tied up, it takes some selling pressure off the market. Locked ETH lowers the pool available on exchanges for fast sales. That does not guarantee a price surge, but it does tighten one side of the market. Traders watching supply flows often weigh that factor alongside macro moves and liquidity conditions. Some traders see this as a slow-burning bullish signal. Others remain cautious because other forces can push prices down even when supply is tighter. Ether Shows Volatility Around $1,900–$2,000 Prices have been bouncy. One day sees gains; the next day shows pullbacks. Reports note that ETH slipped below $2,000 at times as broader crypto momentum cooled. Some sessions point to strength, and some to weakness. Over the last week movement has been uneven. This is a market where headlines and flows still swing prices more than network fundamentals sometimes do. Validator Growth May Support Confidence The rising staking rate also points to growing validator infrastructure and investor patience. More validators means the consensus mechanism has more hands on deck. That has implications beyond price: it affects network security and how rewards are distributed. For many long-horizon investors, that steady build of validators is a reason to remain involved. Related Reading: Bitcoin At $8,000? Michael Saylor Says Strategy Still Won’t Break Timing of withdrawal unlocks is on watch lists. So is how quickly new staked ETH can return to exchanges when withdrawals are permitted at scale. Another big item is macro moves—rates, liquidity, and major market shifts. Those will likely control the next big price swings more than staking alone. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Ethereum climbed back above $2,000 after a softer-than-expected US CPI print, and the move has traders and analysts debating whether the worst is behind the coin or if this is a temporary relief rally. Related Reading: Calm Down: Ethereum Has Survived 8 Major 50% Falls, Lee Reminds Investors Reports say futures open interest has fallen sharply over the last 30 days, funding rates have swung into deeply negative territory, and some on-chain metrics point to a clustered support zone below current prices. Open Interest Drop Raises Questions According to CryptoQuant, the headline figure showing an 80 million ETH decline in open interest across major venues grabbed attention. That number, if taken at face value, would be huge. It suggests large positions were closed rather than new ones being put on. But the scale of the change also invites scrutiny; reporting errors or dollar-value comparisons mislabeled as ETH can happen. Still, a sizable pullback in futures exposure on exchanges including Binance, Gate, Bybit and OKX has been logged, and that much appears real. Funding Rates And The Crowd Funding rates on some platforms are pushing to levels not seen in roughly three years. When traders pay to hold short positions, it signals strong bearish conviction. It is reported that such extremes tend to be followed by a sharp reversal as the crowd can become one-sided, and that leads to a quick reversal as the market sentiment changes. This was seen at the end of 2022, where there was extreme shorting followed by a quick reversal. This does not mean that it will happen this time around as markets can remain one-sided for longer than expected. Support Zones And Technical Targets Glassnode’s on-chain data reveals a significant cost-basis area between $1,880 and $1,900, where about 1.3 million ETH was traded. The $2,000 mark is acting as a psychological anchor and is reinforced by moving average clusters. A breakout from the recent falling wedge pattern points to an initial measured target near $2,150, a ceiling that would be tested before higher resistance near $2,260 and then $2,500. Those levels are not certainties; broader market tone and Bitcoin’s direction will influence whether they are reached. Related Reading: XRP Set To Dethrone Bitcoin Within 6 Years, Entrepreneur Says Reduced open interest lowers the risk of cascade liquidations for now, which can tame intraday volatility. At the same time, low funding rates show that bearish bets are still active and could be squeezed if momentum turns. Reports say accumulation wallets increased inflows when prices dipped, hinting at longer-term conviction among some investors. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The bank cuts its 2026 crypto price targets, warning of further near-term capitulation as ETF outflows and macro headwinds weigh on digital assets.
Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat, is betting on a prompt bounce for Ethereum. He pointed to a pattern stretching back to 2018: each time ETH dropped deep, it later recovered strongly. Related Reading: Jim Cramer Suggests US Government Could Buy Bitcoin Near $60K That history has shaped the tone of his remarks in Hong Kong, where he argued that previous collapses ended with rapid turnarounds. Tom Lee Backs A Quick Rebound According to Lee, Ethereum has endured more than a 50% decline on eight separate occasions since 2018 and each time it came back. He used those past moves as the basis for his view that another sharp recovery is likely. Analysts often disagree about how much weight to give past cycles. $ETH 100% V-Shape Record ???? Tom Lee highlights Ethereum’s eight V-shaped recoveries since 2018. Tom DeMark, whose models are followed by macro legends like Paul Tudor Jones and used across institutional desks, says a final undercut near $1,890 would “perfect” the bottom. That… pic.twitter.com/j9zWoUOLgP — SamAlτcoin.eth (@SAMALTCOIN_ETH) February 11, 2026 Market conditions are not identical now, yet patterns matter because traders use them. Some analysts have highlighted the $1,890 level as a likely low. They said it might be probed twice in an “undercut” before stabilizing. That kind of setup is common in volatile markets and is used to find entry points. Staking Squeezes Liquid Supply Reports note that staking demand remains strong even while prices fall. The validator entry queue has swollen to about 21 days, with roughly 4 million ETH waiting to be accepted. That has left more than 30% of the total supply locked up — about 36.7 million ETH. People are earning roughly 2.80% APR on staked coins, a modest return by crypto standards, but enough to persuade many holders to lock funds away. When large sums are immobilized like this, tradable supply thins and price reactions can be amplified on both the way down and the way up. Related Reading: More Bitcoin Ahead: Saylor, Strategy Commit To Regular BTC Purchases Ethereum Price Action And Market Strain Market moves have been sharp. ETH slid to about $1,900 at the time of writing, down 5.4% in the last seven days, and has failed to hold above $2,000 in recent days. Over the last 30 days, the token fell roughly 36%. Heavy liquidations have been recorded, with more than $1 billion in positions closed out as leverage was forced to unwind. That generated fast selling and left traders cautious. Economic data, geopolitical headlines, and anticipation of US inflation readings have added to the nervous mood. Some desks now treat any bounce as tentative until volatility eases. Whether that rebound comes fast or takes time, Lee’s stance is clear: sharp drops have not marked the end for Ethereum in the past. He sees the current stress as another chapter in a familiar cycle, not a structural break. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
The firm’s looped ETH long position unraveled this week as ether's price crashed, resulting in an estimated $686 million loss.
“I think crypto starts to become invisibly more part of everyone's lives," said Tom Lee — the two appeared on a panel together Tuesday morning at the Ondo Summit in New York.
By several measures, activity on the network remains near peak levels, which has industry leaders plussed about the plunge in ether's price.
According to reports, Vitalik Buterin has pulled 16,384 ETH from his reserves and plans to spend it on privacy and truly open technology. That move is paired with a call for five years of thrift at the Ethereum Foundation so the foundation can keep building core software while staying healthy for the long run. Related Reading: Gold, Silver Steal The Spotlight As Crypto Hype Fades On Social Media: Santiment A New Focus On Privacy And Openness Reports say the funds, worth about $45 million, will back a broad list of projects: open silicon, secure hardware, private messaging, local-first operating systems, and tools that mix zero-knowledge proofs with other privacy tools like FHE and differential privacy. He has already put money toward encrypted messaging and air quality work, and some new efforts aim to make secure hardware more affordable and verifiable. The plan covers both pieces of tech and the systems people run on them. Simple apps for daily life are included, not just fancy research. In these five years, the Ethereum Foundation is entering a period of mild austerity, in order to be able to simultaneously meet two goals: 1. Deliver on an aggressive roadmap that ensures Ethereum’s status as a performant and scalable world computer that does not compromise on… — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 30, 2026 Personal Money For Public Good Buterin is taking on what might once have been “special projects” of the foundation. He withdrew the ETH personally, and reports note he is looking at secure, decentralized staking to route future staking rewards into these efforts. That shifts some financial risk from institutions to an individual who wants those projects to survive even when they are slow or controversial. Some of the initiatives are unlikely to attract fast capital. That is why personal backing matters. A Stronger Core, Not Bigger Hype The Foundation is said to be entering a phase of mild austerity so it can meet two clear goals at once: finish an aggressive technical roadmap and remain alive and independent into the far future. The technical aim is to keep Ethereum fast and scalable without losing decentralization or security. At the same time, the team wants to protect users’ ability to control their keys, their data, and their privacy. Reports note that “Ethereum for people who need it” is the guiding line, rather than chasing large corporate deals that transform how people use the chain. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Slide To $82K Sets Off A $1.7 Billion Chain Reaction Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto project backed by US President Donald Trump, moved a chunk of its Bitcoin exposure into Ethereum this week. Reports say the group sold wrapped Bitcoin holdings and picked up a large amount of Ether in the same set of transactions. Related Reading: Money Keeps Leaving: Bitcoin ETFs Shed $1.72 Billion In Just 5 Sessions WLFI Moves From WBTC To ETH According to blockchain trackers, about 93.77 WBTC was sold, which worked out to roughly $8 million at the time of the swap. The proceeds were used to buy around 2,868 ETH, with an average price of about $2,813 per unit. The trade was executed from a wallet that on-chain analysts link to WLFI’s treasury. That wallet activity was visible on public ledgers and has been shared across several crypto news sites and data monitors. Onchain Data And Market Context Prices were modestly lower for ETH when the purchase happened, which some traders see as a buying chance. Reports say this move comes as Ethereum trading ranges have made some holders rethink where to park large sums. The World Liberty Finance (@worldlibertyfi) has sold 93.77 $WBTC ($8.07M) for 2,868.4 $ETH at a price of $2,813. Address: 0xee7f7f53f0d0c8c56a38e97c5a58e4d321a174dc Data @nansen_ai pic.twitter.com/yhh7IvYLLz — Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) January 26, 2026 WBTC is a tokenized form of Bitcoin that inhabits the Ethereum chain, so swapping it for native ETH changes how those funds can be used within decentralized finance. The funds were moved through a public wallet tied to WLFI. This was confirmed by on-chain evidence that was circulated by data platforms. Strategic Reasons Behind The Shift Several reasons could explain the swap. Holding ETH gives direct access to smart contracts, staking, and DeFi tools that WBTC cannot offer on its own. Some market watchers think WLFI may be positioning to use ETH for on-chain services, staking, or profit from future network activity. Others suggest it could be a way to rebalance risk between stores of value and utility tokens. Reports say no single motive can be proved from the chain itself, only the movement of funds. Reaction And Broader Signals Traders reacted with curiosity rather than panic. Prices barely moved on the news, showing the market may have already priced in similar flows. Smaller investors watched closely because such a swap by a high-profile, politically linked project draws attention. The wallet activity was tracked publicly, and analysts noted the timing matched a period of calmer ETH price action. Related Reading: XRP Charts Flash Familiar Signal As Analyst Calls For $11, Then $70 What This Could Mean For Investors Reports note that big reallocations like this can change short-term sentiment, though they do not always lead to lasting rallies. For holders who prefer simplicity, swapping WBTC for ETH changes the way capital can be used, moving from a Bitcoin peg to native network participation. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
UBS will gradually introduce crypto services, starting with select private clients in Switzerland, according to Bloomberg.
A record surge in activity on the Ethereum network is likely being driven by scam-related behavior rather than genuine user growth, according to the bank's analysts.
The Fusaka upgrade raised usage, but pressure from layer-2 networks and rival blockchains continues to cloud Ethereum's long-term growth outlook.
U.S.-listed spot bitcoin and ether ETFs logged their strongest week in three months, led by bullish bets.
Ethereum is showing signs of strength on two critical fronts at the same time. On-chain activity has climbed to record levels, reflecting heavier real usage across the network, while long-term technical structure is leaning towards upside continuation. Together, these signals suggest that Ethereum’s current phase may be more than just sideways movement, as underlying data points to sustained demand and constructive price behavior. Related Reading: Saylor Defends Bitcoin Treasury Firms Amid Rising Criticism Ethereum Daily Transactions Reach New High Ethereum’s price action is turning bullish with a steady increase in recent days. Notably, on-chain data shows that this increase is on top of steady on-chain activity in recent days. Data from Ethereum’s on-chain activity shows that daily transactions recently climbed to approximately 2.8 million, setting a new all-time high for the network. Interestingly, this figure stands out not just as a record, but because it is roughly 64% higher than the daily transaction levels observed during the peak of the 2021 bull market. The chart data from Sentora illustrates a progression showing Ethereum’s transaction count rising steadily over the years and spiking up in early 2026. Comparing the transaction activity to 2021 adds more context considering the intense amount of activity that the Ethereum network was witnessing at the time. Back then, Ethereum was at the center of an altcoin season and NFT boom, all of which contributed to a spike in transaction activity and a push to new price highs. The fact that Ethereum is now processing significantly more transactions per day compared to 2021 shows that its network usage has grown above speculative behavior. The steady climb in transaction activity shows the sheer amount of usage across decentralized finance and stablecoin settlement, among many others. Ethereum Daily Transactions Chart. Source: @SentoraHQ On X Ethereum Reaccumulation Within A Macro Uptrend Technical analysis of Ethereum’s market capitalization on the three-week candlestick timeframe shows the cryptocurrency is still trading in a zone of stability. Particularly, technical analysis done by crypto analyst Egrag Crypto suggests that Ethereum is in reaccumulation within a macro uptrend. A look at the 3-week timeframe shows that ETH’s market cap is holding above the 21 EMA, respecting the rising macro trendline, printing higher highs & higher lows, and compressing under historical resistance. That is constructive behavior, not weakness. History shows that periods where Ethereum’s market cap held above the 21 EMA on this timeframe have led to expansion phases, whereas sustained moves below it have marked bear market conditions. Related Reading: What’s Driving The $1.42 Billion Comeback In Spot Bitcoin ETFs? At present, the structure indicates the EMA support is being defended. From a probabilistic standpoint, the current setup leans toward continuation rather than breakdown. A move through the overhead resistance band would likely confirm an expansion phase and allow Ethereum to go on a 70% to 75% bullish continuation. Market Cap ETH. Source: @egragcrypto On X On the other hand, a bearish outcome will become possible if the price action loses the 21 EMA on the three-week chart. This could validate a deeper 25% to 30% correction toward the lower trendline, but this scenario carries a lower probability. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
According to CoinGecko’s annual report, crypto treasury companies were among the year’s biggest buyers even as prices fell. Their balance sheets grew sharply, and their actions left a clear mark on supply and markets. The numbers tell a story of heavy buying, pause, and then corporate moves to protect share value. Related Reading: Crypto Money Floods US Politics As $21 Million Backs Trump PAC Large Treasury Buying Spree Reports have disclosed that these treasury firms deployed close to $50 billion into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other tokens during 2025. At the start of the year, treasuries held more than $56 billion in crypto. By January one, 2026, that figure had risen to $134 billion — a gain of 137%. This buying helped push institutional ownership higher, with treasuries holding more than 5% of both Bitcoin and Ethereum supply by year-end. Public companies alone raised their Bitcoin reserves from about 598,714 coins to more than 1 million, an increase near 500,000 BTC. Market Drop Came Late In The Year The broader market did not keep its earlier momentum. Total crypto value fell almost 8% in 2025 and finished the year near $3 trillion. Most of the damage came late. 2025 Annual Crypto Industry Report is now LIVE ???? Last year marked crypto’s first down year since 2022, featuring a brief $4.4T peak in Q4 before a historic $19B liquidation ended the year at $3.0T. Here are 7 key highlights you shouldn’t miss ???? pic.twitter.com/HLbI5BrzwN — CoinGecko (@coingecko) January 15, 2026 The market shed almost a quarter of its value in the last three months, and a liquidation wave near $19 billion in October sped the decline after total market value briefly hit about $4.4 trillion. Bitcoin slipped roughly 1.4% to near $95,300 at one point as investors weighed policy moves in the US and shifting rate expectations. Supply Now Held By Treasuries By the start of 2026, treasuries were holding more than 1 million Bitcoin and 6 million ETH. That concentration matters because assets put on corporate books are less likely to be traded frequently. When large shares of supply are locked up, price swings can be smaller in calm times, but the effect can flip if selling is forced. BTCUSD trading at $95,524 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView Related Reading: Bitcoin’s New Power Buyers: Companies Bought 3 Times What Miners Produced Companies Shifted Strategy When Stocks Fell When prices fell in the fourth quarter, some treasury firms saw their share prices dip below the value of their crypto holdings. To support their stock, many paused buying and turned to share buybacks. That action slowed the pace of token purchases. The move was traditional: protect investors’ equity value rather than add more tokens into a weakening market. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
Etherealize co-founders Vivek Raman and Danny Ryan believe Ethereum is exiting a regulatory "purgatory" to become the premiere destination for Wall Street.
Ethereum’s on-chain activity has jumped sharply, driven by a wave of first-time users and heavier transaction flow across the network. According to Glassnode, new activity retention roughly doubled this month — rising from about 4 million to around 8 million addresses — a move that points to a fresh cohort of wallets interacting with Ethereum rather than just repeat users. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s New Power Buyers: Companies Bought 3 Times What Miners Produced Surge In New Users Daily transactions hit a record high of 2.8 million on Thursday, a figure that is up 125% from the same period last year. Based on reports from Etherscan, active addresses have more than doubled year-over-year, moving from roughly 410,000 accounts to over 1 million as of Jan. 15. Those numbers suggest real, broad-based engagement is increasing, not merely short-lived spikes. Ethereum’s Month-over-Month Activity Retention shows a sharp spike in the “New” cohort, indicating a surge in first-time interacting addresses over the past 30 days. This reflects a notable influx of new wallets engaging with the Ethereum network, rather than activity being… pic.twitter.com/h8Zw7hXOSX — glassnode (@glassnode) January 15, 2026 Transaction Boom And L2 Effects Observers link the transaction growth in part to rising stablecoin activity and lower fees. Reports have disclosed that many transfers are migrating execution to Layer 2 networks while settlement stays on Ethereum’s main chain, which keeps finality secure and helps push down gas costs. Staking has also climbed, reaching nearly 36 million ETH, adding another layer to the network’s tightening supply dynamics. At the same time, market behavior remains careful. Strength in US equities has helped stabilize crypto prices, yet money flowing into Ethereum looks selective rather than broad. It seems that positioning is rather conservative; traders prefer waiting for more accurate signals regarding ETH prices instead of attempting to predict a breakout. In turn, ETH is consolidating around a correction, but there is not enough momentum-driven buying. Analyst Views & Price Movement There were also those who cited optimism based on improvements to on-chain fundamentals. For instance, LVRG Research reported that the increasing number of transactions and staking activities encouraged a positive network. Some traders argue the compression in price action could precede a breakout. Ether traded near a two-month high of $3,400 on Wednesday and was around $3,300 in early trading on Friday, reflecting the tug of war between renewed demand and persistent caution. Despite the stronger metrics, technical hurdles remain. Reports and recent analysis suggest the market is in a repair phase, not a confirmed uptrend. Overhead supply still constrains sustained advances, and many market participants want to see ETH reclaim key long-term resistance levels, such as the 200-day EMA, before committing large-scale capital. That explains why short-term traders operate inside a defined range while longer-term players hold back. Related Reading: Ethereum Staking Hits Record Levels As Buterin Urges Builders To Deliver Real Apps What This Means For Traders And Investors Network health has improved materially — more users, more transactions, and higher staking — but price action has not yet matched those gains. Based on the data presented, cautious optimism is reasonable. Traders may find chance to trade the range, while investors looking for conviction should wait for cleaner technical confirmation before assuming a sustained rally. Featured image from Blockzeit/EthBurn, chart from TradingView
Standard Chartered has pushed its base-case price target for Ethereum to $7,500 by the end of the year, a big jump from an earlier $4,000 projection. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s New Power Buyers: Companies Bought 3 Times What Miners Produced According to the bank’s digital assets team, growing demand from corporate treasury buyers and spot ETH products has driven the change in outlook. Bank Raises Ethereum Target The bank’s lead analyst expects fee growth on the Ethereum network and stronger institutional adoption to be key drivers for the move higher. The bank also revised its longer-term numbers, lifting its 2028 target to $25,000 and laying out scenarios that push toward $40,000 by 2030. These wider targets reflect models where stablecoins and tokenized assets expand on Ethereum’s chain. Institutional Buying Drives Demand Data cited by market researchers points to heavy accumulation since June, with spot ETF flows and treasury firms together taking close to 4% of Ether’s circulating supply over that period. ETHEREUM SEEN OUTPERFORMING BITCOIN Standard Chartered says Ethereum’s outlook has improved and it is likely to outperform bitcoin. While weak bitcoin performance has weighed on the broader crypto market, rising institutional demand for ethereum and its dominance in stablecoins,… — *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) January 13, 2026 Treasury firms alone reportedly bought about 2.3 million ETH in just over two months, a pace that Standard Chartered says outstrips some previous accumulation phases seen in Bitcoin. Ethereum Vs. Bitcoin Standard Chartered’s note also argues that Ether could outperform Bitcoin, raising the possibility of the ETH/BTC ratio returning toward levels last seen during 2021’s run-up. Based on the bank’s scenarios, weaker Bitcoin momentum combined with stronger real-world use of Ethereum might lift Ether’s price faster than Bitcoin’s in the months ahead. Long-Term Upside Scenarios Some headlines have pointed to even bigger long-range targets produced by the same models, including forecasts of $30,000 by 2029 and $40,000 by 2030 under more bullish assumptions. These outcomes rely on a substantial expansion of stablecoin use, tokenized real-world assets, and continued staking demand that would remove supply from the market. Independent forecasters remain split, and other banks have offered lower year-end projections, offering a reminder that expert views differ. Meanwhile, market watchers caution, though, that relative moves depend heavily on ETF flows and corporate balance-sheet decisions. Related Reading: Bitcoin At $100K Could Spark A Fresh Wave Of Retail FOMO, Analysts Warn Network Fundamentals And Risks According to the bank, Ethereum’s large share of stablecoin activity and its role in decentralized finance make fee income and on-chain demand a meaningful part of valuation models. That said, the bank notes that scale improvements and Layer 1 throughput will matter a lot if big, traditional finance transactions migrate onchain. The research also warns that shifts in macro conditions, outflows from major ETFs, or regulatory setbacks could change the math quickly. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Analysts suggest macroeconomic conditions and stabilizing prices could support crypto markets in the medium term, with bitcoin potentially reaching $120,000 if sentiment improves.
The bank sees ether benefiting from sector-specific tailwinds even as broader crypto momentum remains uneven.
Ethereum’s social buzz has cooled to levels some analysts compare with the period before last year’s powerful rebound, but experts say that doesn’t automatically mean another big surge is imminent. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Next Peak Might Ignite ADA’s Rally, Says Cardano Creator Sentiment Mirrors Past Lows According to Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan, social media sentiment around Ethereum has slipped and now sits near the low range seen before the 2025 rally. Quinlivan suggested that the decline in chatter “argues against us falling too much further,” and he pointed out that price has often climbed after strong public doubt. On Aug. 23, Ether hit a fresh all-time high of around $4,900, a move that followed a recovery from a yearly low near $1,470 in April, based on CoinGecko data. That rally pushed the token back above its 2021 high. Since then, Ether has retreated about 36% from the peak and was trading at $3,089 at the time of the reports. Market Shock And Liquidity Events Reports have disclosed that a mass liquidation on Oct. 10 triggered close to $20 billion of losses across the crypto market, and that event is linked to the more recent pullback. The liquidation hit many positions and was followed by a broader risk-off mood. Crypto fear gauges have been low. One index posted a Fear score of 29 on Sunday, while the Altcoin Season Index shows a Bitcoin Season score of 34 out of 100 — a reading that points to money flowing into Bitcoin rather than into altcoins over the past 90 days. That mix of metrics is being watched closely by traders who size positions on sentiment shifts. Network Activity And Staking Interest Quinlivan also highlighted on-chain signals he finds positive. According to his view, activity on Ethereum’s network has been rising, and staking has drawn more attention from users. Increasing bandwidth is safer than reducing latency With PeerDAS and ZKPs, we know how to scale, and potentially we can scale thousands of times compared to the status quo. The numbers become far more favorable than before (eg. see analysis here, pre and post-sharding… — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 8, 2026 Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin has joined the public conversation about technical upgrades. Buterin said in an extended X post that PeerDAS, which arrived with the Fusaka upgrade, along with zero-knowledge proofs and sharding, will push Ethereum toward much higher throughput. He added that layer-2 networks like Base, Polygon, and Optimism will still be needed because many use cases demand speeds that are even quicker than mainnet. Related Reading: Crypto Market Watches As Clarity Act Enters Senate Debate Next Week: US Senator Institutional Views And Market Positioning Based on reports, Coinbase Asset Management president Anthony Bassili said in November 2025 that investors tend to view Bitcoin first and Ethereum second when building a core portfolio. That stance reflects how many large investors now treat Ether as the default number-two market cap asset rather than as a fringe bet. With that status, downside expectations can be smaller than for riskier tokens. Still, sentiment can remain low for long stretches, and being ranked highly does not remove volatility. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Flow and positioning data suggest the recent crypto market correction may be running out of steam, with early signs of stabilization across ETFs and derivatives.
Following a remarkable performance in the first trading days of the year, CNBC anchors have named XRP the breakout trade of 2026, arguing that it has been the silent outperformer during the recent crypto market volatility. Related Reading: Bitcoin At A Crossroads: $93,500 Reclaim Holds The Key For Next Move XRP Becomes The Hottest Trade Of The Year CNBC’s Brian Sullivan highlighted XRP’s strong start to the year, calling the cryptocurrency the “new cryptocurrency darling” of 2026 and placing it ahead of the market’s leading assets. During the Power Lunch segment, the network’s anchor affirmed that “the hottest crypto trade of the year is not Bitcoin, it is not Ether, it is XRP,” arguing that there’s “big money behind this trade.” In his initial remarks, he pointed out the altcoin’s remarkable seven-day rally toward the recent highs. XRP has seen a notable performance since the start of the year, climbing over 30% from its yearly opening to its two-month high of $2.41 on Tuesday morning. Amid this recent performance, the altcoin recently flipped BNB again to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, a place it had lost during the December market volatility. Moreover, it has outperformed most of the largest cryptocurrencies in the weekly timeframe, including BTC’s and ETH’s 4.3% and 6.2% respective rallies. CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos weighed in on XRP’s performance on various segments, affirming that “XRP has been the quiet outperformer for months now.” She addressed whether XRP is taking its place as “the next cool thing to know about” or whether it has a different and more relevant use case that sets it apart from the leading cryptocurrencies, emphasizing its role in cross-border payments as one of its key appeals. What’s Driving The Rally? Sigalos cited three main reasons for the strong star-of-the-year performance. First, she stated that “the regulatory overhang has finally cleared as Ripple has fully wrapped up its SEC fight as of August 2nd.” Second, she asserted that people consider the cryptocurrency “a less crowded trade than Bitcoin or Ether,” which “proved out to be true” just in the first trading days of January. For the third reason, she pointed out that “the flows have held up even during the Q4 dip,” arguing that investors continued to add to XRP-based funds, while the largest crypto ETFs’ flows fell with the price. Well, it’s actually been interesting is that during the doldrums of Q4, you actually saw a lot of people piling into those XRP ETFs, which is the exact opposite of what happens with the spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, where people really move in tandem with the price of the coin. But it was the fact that it is a way to have a higher percentage jump. Related Reading: Ethereum’s Q1 Outlook: Analyst Shares Historical Setup As Price Nears Key Resistance Notably, XRP funds had a remarkable performance since their launch in Q4 2025. The investment products, which first debuted in November, have recorded cumulative net inflows of $1.25 billion, according to data from SoSoValue. The ETF category has not recorded a single day of negative net flows in nearly two months, with consistent inflows since going live. During the first three trading days of the year, XRP funds have seen a total inflow of $78.81 million. As of this writing, XRP is trading at $2.19, a 20% increase in the weekly timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
The Wall Street giant is widening its crypto push, following bitcoin and solana ETF filings with a potential ether trust.
According to Beaconcha.in data and market reports, the Ethereum validator exit queue has shrunk to just 32 ETH, with a wait time of about one minute. That is a steep drop from its mid-September peak of 2.67 million ETH — a fall of almost a hundred percent. Markets often react when locked assets are freed up for sale. Right now, that specific source of immediate selling seems to have faded. Related Reading: Crypto Users Lose Far Less To Phishing As Losses Drop 83% – Details Validator Exit Queue Near Empty The exit mechanism limits how fast validators can stop validating and pull out their full stake. With the queue near zero, there is no backlog waiting to cash out. That reduces one form of nervous selling. Validators still earn rewards while queued and can face penalties if they act badly, but the bottleneck that once forced slow exits is gone. Reports show the withdrawal process for partial payouts remains separate, and those smaller payouts continue without affecting the full-exit flow. Entry Queue Hits Fresh Highs Based on reports, the entry queue has climbed to about 1.3 million ETH, its largest level since mid-November. Large operators are sending chunks of ETH into staking. BitMine began staking on Dec. 26 and added 82,560 ETH to the queue on Jan. 3. The firm now lists 659,219 ETH staked, worth roughly $2.1 billion at current prices. BitMine’s wider holdings stand at just over 4.1 million ETH, representing about 3.4% of the total supply and valued near $13 billion. Those moves add real, measurable demand for staked Ether and help explain why fewer validators appear eager to leave. Exchange Balances And Liquidity Exchange reserves for ETH sit at multi-year lows. That matters because when fewer coins are parked on trading platforms, automatic or panic selling becomes harder to pull off. Traders and analysts point to this as a reason selling pressure is easing. Some industry figures have been quoted saying the exit queue is “basically empty,” and that selling pressure is drying up as staking outpaces withdrawals. Still, the market can move by other means — derivatives, lending desks, and off-exchange trades can shift exposure without touching the staking queues. BULLISH: $ETH surpasses Netflix to reclaim its position as the 36th-largest asset by market cap. pic.twitter.com/NetdCcdtSa — CoinGecko (@coingecko) January 6, 2026 Market Cap Milestone And What It Means Meanwhile, in another development, market watchers also noted that Ethereum has moved past Netflix to be the 36th-largest asset by market cap. That headline grabs attention. It says something about investor focus on blockchain assets right now. Related Reading: Bitcoin Wealth Isn’t About Hype—It’s About Time And Stacking, Expert Says But crossing a market-cap threshold is not the same as a direct reason to buy. Valuation rankings change often, and they can be driven by price moves that are themselves shaped by flows, news, or macro shifts rather than a change in the underlying business. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
New-year allocations support bitcoin prices as leverage cools and volatility expectations rise.