Blockchain intelligence firm AMLBot has confirmed the Polymarket supply-chain attack total at approximately $3.1 million in PUSD across 11 user wallets, with funds bridged from Polygon to Ethereum and converted to ETH. Polymarket has pledged full refunds but has not named the compromised vendor.
Blockchain intelligence firm AMLBot has fixed the total stolen in Thursday's Polymarket supply-chain attack at approximately $3.1 million in PUSD, providing the first forensically confirmed on-chain dollar figure and tracing the stolen assets from Polygon to Ethereum. On-chain investigator Specter, which published the first public alert, identified more than 11 victim wallets.
AMLBot posted the revised tally on Saturday, two days after on-chain investigators first flagged the drain. The figure revises earlier estimates upward and, for the first time, pins both the dollar amount to a single on-chain intelligence source. AMLBot said it continues to monitor affected accounts as the investigation proceeds.
From Front-End to BridgeThe attack, covered by The Defiant on Thursday, began when a compromised third-party vendor injected malicious JavaScript into Polymarket's website. The code targeted user transactions at the front-end layer; Polymarket's smart contracts on Polygon were untouched. Polymarket confirmed fewer than 15 accounts were affected, consistent with scope described by on-chain security researchers tracking the wallets in real time.
On-chain investigator Specter published the first public alert and identified the attacker's primary consolidation address on Ethereum: `0xe65b1C586757c5510B60F998Eebb14C1eF71E1eD`. PeckShield confirmed the stolen funds were bridged from Polygon to Ethereum and then swapped into roughly 1,893 ETH. Bubblemaps independently counted fewer than 15 affected accounts and estimated $3 million in losses being refunded.
PUSD is Polymarket's native collateral token, a Polygon-based ERC-20 minted 1:1 against USDC.e through the platform's on-chain collateral contracts. Deployed in April 2026 per on-chain records, PUSD operates exclusively within the platform and carries no external exchange listing, so the attacker had to convert it to ETH to exit. The token held its $1.00 peg throughout the incident, per PolygonScan data for the pUSD contract on Polygon.
Refund Commitment, Vendor Still UnnamedPolymarket posted on X Thursday morning saying it had contained the attack, removed the malicious dependency, and would refund impacted users in full. William LeGate confirmed the repayment would be total, adding in a second post that there were "no user 'losses.'" The platform has not publicly named the compromised vendor across any channel since the incident was disclosed.
Initial independent estimates put the theft at $2.94 million, based on on-chain wallet tallies by Specter Analyst, while PeckShield and other firms rounded to roughly $3 million. AMLBot's Saturday update lifts the confirmed total by approximately $160,000 from Specter's initial read.
TechCrunch reported that a Polymarket spokesperson confirmed the breach but declined to provide further detail. Security researchers at CyberInsider and BleepingComputer both classified the incident as a supply-chain attack, the type where a downstream dependency injects hostile code into a trusted application, rather than a direct protocol exploit.
Platform ContextThe platform currently holds $432 million in total value locked on Polygon, per DefiLlama. Security trackers cataloguing Q2 2026 DeFi incidents have counted the June 25 Polymarket attack among a sustained wave of supply-chain and front-end compromises targeting DeFi infrastructure in 2026.
Polymarket has committed to refunding affected users in full but has set no public timeline for completion and has not disclosed the identity of the third-party vendor whose compromise triggered the attack.
The crypto ecosystem is undergoing a deep structural transformation where yesterday’s certainties give way to new macroeconomic realities. Thus, although the community has historically speculated on Ethereum surpassing bitcoin, institutional analysts now turn to a scenario completely ignored by retail investors. The recent evolution of volumes and market capitalizations calls into question the established hierarchy, prompting experts to rethink the position of stablecoins relative to traditional cryptos.
In Brief Tether could dethrone Bitcoin to become the world’s largest crypto according to a Bloomberg Intelligence strategist. The rise of stablecoins challenges the historical dominance of Bitcoin and Ethereum in the crypto ecosystem. A Bitcoin at 10,000 dollars would be the key scenario allowing USDT to take the lead in the market. The tightening of macroeconomic conditions would strengthen the appeal of dollar-indexed assets versus more volatile cryptos. USDT on the path to becoming the world’s top crypto The announcement surprised bitcoin maximalists and DeFi enthusiasts. Tether (USDT) is well on its way to becoming the largest crypto in the world by market size, assures Mike McGlone, senior macroeconomic strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence.
According to the specialist, the rise of tokens indexed to the greenback disrupts the sector’s value order. The expert bases his conclusions on several key observations of market dynamics :
The threat to the historical duopoly : the analyst states bluntly that it “could be just a matter of time before the dollar-backed token surpasses bitcoin, unless the crypto’s most enduring trend reverses: Tether’s assets under management surpassing everything”. He adds that in this race, “only two remain: bitcoin and Ether” ; The power of dollar indexing : he highlights the inherent power of the stablecoin’s technical architecture, explaining that “the technology is impressive, and it has adopted the dollar as a base layer”, implicitly addressing the movement advocating for global dedollarization ; The fragility of alternative protocols : McGlone directly questions the sustainability and fundamental viability of speculative tokens flooding wallets. He wonders what could stop the uncontrolled proliferation of protocols where billions of dollars accumulate on assets backed by no source of actual revenue or financial flows. Recent movements partly confirm this thesis since Tether briefly snatched the second spot from Ethereum in the overall ranking following the general panic. On this subject, the Bloomberg strategist specifies that this precise historic change “could be lasting this time”.
The crash hypothesis : a bitcoin at 10,000 dollars to validate the prophecy For this macroeconomic prediction to become reality, a complete revaluation of current values would be required, which would depend on a historic drop in crypto yields. Mike McGlone firmly holds his bearish forecasts, stating that bitcoin is heading towards a major correction likely to bring it back to the 10,000 dollar level. The technical explanation lies in the emergence conditions of the first crypto.
It developed at a breakneck speed during an exceptional period marked by zero interest rates and massive liquidity injections from central banks. The current monetary tightening imposes on markets an inevitable deleveraging process, which hits assets considered highly speculative.
The gloomy outlook developed by Bloomberg Intelligence is not limited to the blockchain universe but fits into a recession affecting global commodities and traditional stock indices. McGlone notably anticipates a collapse of WTI crude oil around 40 dollars a barrel, triggered by a global correction of U.S. stock markets in the second half. In this systemic purge framework, the on-chain safe haven par excellence mechanically becomes digitized dollar, whose global capitalization remains stable or rises, while volatile assets see their capitalization shrink under massive selling pressure.
Market redefinition: towards a paradigm shift for decentralized finance This institutional reading reveals a major market divide between purely speculative yield seeking and the fundamental need for stability during systemic crises. While the scenario of a bitcoin at 10,000 dollars is still seen by many market operators as extreme, it nevertheless reminds that an asset’s capitalization depends above all on its real liquidity and transactional utility.
In the long term, the transformation of stablecoins into main vectors of value transfer could relegate first-generation assets to a secondary role, thereby redefining the future of digital investments.
The hypothesis of Tether’s dominance invites the community to reconsider the very foundations of decentralization. If the sector’s most powerful token becomes a centralized currency dependent on the U.S. dollar, the original ideal of resistance to censorship and financial sovereignty championed by Satoshi Nakamoto would be deeply altered.
However, other analysts moderate this view, arguing that bitcoin will maintain its status as digital gold thanks to its programmed scarcity, resisting any monetary printing policies. The future will depend on how investors manage to reconcile the security urgency offered by USDT and the long-term value promise carried by bitcoin.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Ethereum has struggled under sustained selling pressure throughout June, plummeting from levels above $2,000 to around $1,557 as of June 26. This marks a monthly loss of 23.5 percent, while the past week alone saw ETH shed 6.7 percent of its value.
Market dynamics reveal weaknessesA key threshold has been crossed in the overall market cap rankings. Tether’s total market capitalization rose to $186.06 billion, surpassing Ethereum, which stands at $185.66 billion. For the first time in history, Tether has overtaken Ethereum by market value.
Market analyst Ted Pillows noted that Ethereum is once again testing bottom levels, and the momentum remains weak due to a broader market correction. According to Pillows, if ETH can reclaim the $1,750 mark, investors could see a short-term rebound in the coming month.
Ted Pillows remarked that the wider market correction has sapped momentum from Ethereum, but if ETH can break back above $1,750, a short-lived relief rally might be possible next month.
The technical outlook on the daily chart supports this pressure. After breaking below the upward trendline formed in February, ETH fell beneath the $1,900 and $1,800 supports, reaching as low as the $1,550 region.
Major investor groups fall into lossesData from CryptoQuant reveals that all major Ethereum investor groups, including wallets holding more than 100,000 ETH, are now sitting on unrealized losses. The last time this scenario occurred was back in 2019, which coincided with a long-term bottom for ETH. CryptoQuant, a widely-followed on-chain analytics provider, monitors this data across the crypto industry.
For the first time since 2019, large Ethereum investors as a group have fallen into collective unrealized losses.
Historically, collective capitulation by large holders has more often signaled proximity to market bottoms rather than deeper declines. While smaller whale groups occasionally slip into losses, it is rare for the largest wallets to dip into negative territory at the same time.
Meanwhile, the Estimated Leverage Ratio indicator has dropped from 1.11 to 0.85 over the past three weeks. This decline points to a significant number of leveraged positions being closed or liquidated, which could help limit some of the downside risk for ETH.
ETF outflows and funding concernsEthereum spot ETFs are on track for their seventh straight week of net outflows. According to SoSoValue, the current week may mark the heaviest capital flight from spot ETH ETFs since January.
Protocol Guild coordinator Trent Van Epps has also raised concerns about core development funding. After five years with the Ethereum Foundation, Van Epps emphasized that approximately $30 million per year is needed to sustain essential development activities, warning that current reserves may not reliably cover emerging needs. Protocol Guild is recognized for its role in funding core Ethereum developers.
Van Epps highlighted that Protocol Guild has distributed around $40 million to developers over the past four years, but he stressed that this is not sufficient. He suggested that new institutional participation may be required in the coming months to bridge the funding gap.
On the technical side, the key support levels for ETH are now at $1,510 and $1,500, while resistance sits at $1,710 and $1,774. The MACD indicator has turned negative once again, with the signal line currently at negative 78.35.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
1024EX, an on-chain crypto trading platform, has announced support for $USDC deposits on two more networks. 1024EX now supports $USDC deposits on Ethereum and Base blockchain networks. As per 1024EX’s official social media announcement, these deposits are live now. Moreover, $USDC withdrawals on Base, Solana, and Ethereum are already live. The update highlights 1024EX’s plan to make stablecoin transfers less fragmented and more rapid.
1024EX now supports USDC deposits via Base and Ethereum.
Withdrawals are available via Base, Ethereum, and Solana.
Coming soon: TRON support.
More chains. Smoother deposits. Easier withdrawals.
— 1024EX (@1024EX) June 27, 2026 Supporting USDC deposits on Ethereum and Base is highly important for any crypto platform and its users. It improves user experience, boosts platform competitiveness, and supports broader stablecoin adoption.
How USDC Deposits on Base and Ethereum Can Improve User Experience The launch of the $USDC deposits on Base and Ethereum permits 1024EX to improve the user experience. Base enables fast finality as well as low-fee transactions. At the same time, Ethereum provides comprehensive liquidity as well as wide wallet compatibility. Keeping this in view, the rollout provides traders with two additional ways for account funding via $USDC without depending on a single blockchain. Additionally, the $USDC deposit support minimizes congestion risk when it comes to increased network activity.
Coming to withdrawals, 1024EX users are permitted to withdraw capital via Solana, Base, and Ethereum. Withdrawals support on Solana is of great importance because Solana delivers a high-throughput option for minimal fees and sub-second settlement. This benefits consumers who look for funds transfers to other platforms, DeFi protocols, or wallets quickly.
1024EX Targets TRON as Next Integration for Wider Access In addition to this, the platform has also unveiled plans to support the TRON network to further facilitate its users. The potential inclusion of TRON would broaden 1024EX’s access to consumers who focus on minimal network fees in the case of $USDC transactions. Ultimately, this development gives consumers more control over $USDC withdrawals and deposits.
To sum up, 1024EX considers this 3-chain withdrawal framework as a key move to let consumers pick ecosystem compatibility, cost, or speed in line with their individual requirements.
AUTHOR
Umair Younas is a cryptocurrency-related content writer linked with this work since 2019. Here, at Blockchainreporter, he serves as a news and article writer. He is a crypto, blockchain, NFTs, DeFi, and FinTech enthusiast. He has strong command over writing authentic reviews about brokers and exchanges and he has collaborated with our education team to write educational content as well. He has a dream to raise awareness among people about digital currencies. His works are well-researched and brimmed with information hence they provide fresh insights. Stay tuned to his posts if you want to stay up-to-date with the crypto-verse.
Bitcoin is the largest pool of value in crypto, but on its own, it cannot touch Ethereum’s world of lending, borrowing, and yield. Wrapped Bitcoin is the bridge. This guide explains how WBTC works, the mint-and-burn model behind it, the alternatives, and the custodial risks that set it apart from holding real BTC.
Summary
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin held in reserve by a custodian, letting Bitcoin’s value be used inside Ethereum’s decentralized finance ecosystem. It exists because native Bitcoin cannot operate inside Ethereum smart contracts, so WBTC bridges the largest pool of crypto value into the largest arena for DeFi. WBTC works through a mint-and-burn model run by three parties: custodians who hold the Bitcoin, merchants who handle verification and distribution, and users, all overseen by the WBTC DAO. WBTC tracks Bitcoin’s price and can be used for lending, borrowing, yield farming, and as collateral, but it is not the same as holding native BTC because it adds custodial, smart contract, and bridge risks. Alternatives such as Coinbase’s cbBTC and the more decentralized tBTC offer different custody models, and the choice among them comes down to which trust assumptions you are comfortable with. Table of Contents
Why Bitcoin needs wrappingHow the mint-and-burn model worksWho governs WBTC, and why it mattersA worked example: putting Bitcoin to workWBTC versus native Bitcoin and the alternativesRisks and what to check before wrappingFrequently Asked Questions Wrapped Bitcoin, known by its ticker WBTC, is an ERC-20 token that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and is backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin held in reserve, so that one WBTC is always meant to equal one Bitcoin. Its entire purpose is to solve a fundamental incompatibility in crypto: Bitcoin, the largest and most valuable cryptocurrency, lives on its own blockchain and cannot natively participate in the decentralized finance applications built on Ethereum, because those applications run on smart contracts that Bitcoin’s design does not support.
An enormous amount of crypto wealth sits in Bitcoin, while an enormous amount of programmable financial activity happens on Ethereum, and for years, there was no way to bring the two together. Wrapped Bitcoin is the bridge. By locking real Bitcoin with a custodian and issuing an equivalent Ethereum token against it, WBTC lets Bitcoin holders put their Bitcoin’s value to work inside Ethereum’s ecosystem, lending it, borrowing against it, trading it, supplying it to liquidity pools, and using it as collateral, all without selling their Bitcoin exposure. It was the first widely adopted way to do this, and it remains one of the most integrated.
The idea is simple, but the details are where the important nuances live, and they are worth understanding before using WBTC, because the convenience comes with trade-offs that holding plain Bitcoin does not have. A wrapped token introduces extra parties and extra trust assumptions, and the question of who holds the underlying Bitcoin, and whether you can always get it back, sits at the center of the whole arrangement.
This guide explains what WBTC is, why it is needed, exactly how the mint-and-burn mechanism works, who the custodians and merchants are, and why they matter, a concrete example of using WBTC in practice, how it compares to native Bitcoin and to newer alternatives like cbBTC and tBTC, and the specific risks that come with holding a wrapped asset rather than the real thing. The aim is to let you decide whether wrapped Bitcoin fits your needs or whether plain Bitcoin is the cleaner choice.
Why Bitcoin needs wrapping To understand why WBTC exists, you have to understand a basic limitation of Bitcoin. Bitcoin was designed as a secure, decentralized system for holding and transferring value, and it does that job extremely well, but its scripting language is deliberately limited and is not built to run the complex, self-executing programs known as smart contracts.
Ethereum, by contrast, was built specifically to run smart contracts, and decentralized finance, the ecosystem of lending protocols, decentralized exchanges, and yield platforms, is constructed almost entirely on Ethereum and similar smart-contract blockchains.
The consequence is that Bitcoin, despite being the largest store of value in crypto, simply cannot plug into these applications directly. A Bitcoin holder who wanted to earn yield or use their holdings as collateral in DeFi had no native way to do so.
This is the gap wrapping fills. The core problem is one of interoperability, the ability to use an asset from one blockchain on another, and wrapping is one of the earliest and most widely used solutions to it. By representing Bitcoin as a token that conforms to Ethereum’s technical standards, specifically the ERC-20 standard that Ethereum applications are built to recognize, wrapped Bitcoin makes Bitcoin-linked value fully usable inside the Ethereum environment.
The ERC-20 standard is a set of rules that makes a token fully compatible and interchangeable across Ethereum’s smart contracts, so a wrapped Bitcoin token can be lent, borrowed, swapped, and used as collateral exactly like any other Ethereum token.
Wrapping, therefore, reduces the fragmentation between Bitcoin’s huge liquidity and Ethereum’s rich application layer, turning Bitcoin from an asset that sits outside DeFi into one that can be put to work within it. That is the entire reason wrapped Bitcoin was created, and why it found immediate demand.
How the mint-and-burn model works The mechanism that keeps wrapped Bitcoin backed 1:1 by real Bitcoin is called mint and burn, and it relies on a three-party system of custodians, merchants, and users.
The custodian is a regulated entity that holds the actual Bitcoin in secure reserve; for WBTC, this role has been played by the digital-asset custody firm BitGo. The merchant is an intermediary, such as an exchange or crypto business, that interacts with users, performs the necessary identity and compliance checks, and distributes the wrapped tokens. The user is the person who wants to convert between Bitcoin and wrapped Bitcoin. These three parties, coordinated by a set of smart contracts, keep the supply of WBTC matched to the Bitcoin held in reserve.
The process works in two directions. To create, or mint, wrapped Bitcoin, a user requests WBTC from a merchant, who carries out know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks to verify the user’s identity. The merchant then sends the corresponding Bitcoin to the custodian, who holds it in reserve and mints an equal amount of WBTC on Ethereum, which makes its way to the user.
To reverse the process, or burn the tokens, a user who wants their Bitcoin back submits a redemption request, the WBTC is destroyed in what is called a burn transaction, and the custodian releases the equivalent Bitcoin from reserve. Because every WBTC in existence is meant to correspond to a Bitcoin locked with the custodian, the token maintains its 1:1 peg, and its price tracks Bitcoin’s price closely.
Importantly, both the minting and the burning are recorded publicly on the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains, so anyone can verify the activity, and the system is periodically subjected to proof-of-reserve checks that confirm the Bitcoin backing actually exists. This transparency is meant to give holders confidence that the wrapped tokens are genuinely backed, though, as the risks section explains, it does not remove the reliance on the custodian.
Who governs WBTC, and why it matters A wrapped token raises an obvious question: who controls the system, decides which custodians and merchants are trusted, and can change how it works. For WBTC, the answer is a decentralized autonomous organization known as the WBTC DAO, a governing body made up of a group of stakeholders that has included prominent names in the crypto space.
The DAO operates through a multi-signature wallet, meaning that changes require the agreement of multiple keyholders rather than any single party, and its members can vote to add or remove custodians and merchants and to make changes to the smart contracts on which the system runs. This governance structure exists specifically to reduce the centralization risk that would come from a single company controlling the entire arrangement, spreading authority across a set of stakeholders instead.
Why this matters became vivid in 2024, in what served as the clearest real-world stress test of WBTC’s governance. The custodian BitGo announced a change to its custody arrangements involving a partnership with another firm, and that change sparked significant concern across decentralized finance because of the new partner’s perceived links to a controversial figure and ecosystem.
The episode mattered because it went to the heart of the trust assumption underlying WBTC: holders were trusting that the Bitcoin backing their tokens was held safely and by parties they considered reliable, and a change in who effectively controlled that custody was enough to shake confidence and prompt many users and protocols to reconsider. It also accelerated the rise of alternative wrapped Bitcoin products with different custody models.
The lesson is that the governance and custody arrangements of a wrapped token are not background details; they are central to its safety, because the whole value of WBTC rests on the Bitcoin being there and being controlled by trustworthy parties. Who governs the system, and how, is therefore something a prospective holder should actually look into rather than take for granted.
A worked example: putting Bitcoin to work A concrete example shows why someone would bother wrapping their Bitcoin in the first place. Imagine a person named Ezra who holds $2,000 worth of Bitcoin and believes in it as a long-term holding, but who also wants to earn a return on that value instead of letting it sit idle. The problem is that the lending protocol Ezra wants to use, which would pay interest on deposited assets, runs on Ethereum, and Ezra’s Bitcoin cannot be deposited there directly because it lives on a different blockchain that the protocol cannot interact with. Without wrapping, Ezra’s only options would be to sell the Bitcoin for an Ethereum-native asset, giving up his Bitcoin exposure, or to leave it earning nothing.
Wrapping solves this. Ezra converts his Bitcoin into wrapped Bitcoin, either by going through a merchant to mint it directly or, more commonly for an ordinary user, by simply swapping his Bitcoin for WBTC on an exchange or decentralized exchange, which avoids the need to interact with the custodians himself. Now holding WBTC, which is an Ethereum token tracking Bitcoin’s price 1:1, Ezra can deposit it into the lending protocol and earn interest, all while his position still rises and falls with the price of Bitcoin. He has kept his Bitcoin exposure and put it to work at the same time. Beyond lending, WBTC opens the same doors that any Ethereum token enjoys: Ezra could supply it to a liquidity pool on a decentralized exchange to earn trading fees, use it as collateral to borrow other assets, or deposit it into yield strategies.
A further practical benefit is speed, since transactions in WBTC settle on Ethereum, which produces blocks far more frequently than Bitcoin, so moving wrapped Bitcoin between Ethereum wallets and applications is quicker than moving native Bitcoin. This is the everyday appeal of wrapped Bitcoin: it lets Bitcoin holders participate in the full range of Ethereum-based finance without selling the Bitcoin they want to keep.
WBTC versus native Bitcoin and the alternatives It is essential to be clear that wrapped Bitcoin is not the same as holding native Bitcoin, even though the two share a price.
With native Bitcoin, the only real question about safety is whether you control your own private keys; if you do, the Bitcoin is yours, secured by the Bitcoin network itself. With WBTC, the question expands considerably, because you are now also relying on the custodian to actually hold the backing Bitcoin, on the integrity of the reserves, on the governance of the system, and on the redemption process working when you want to convert back.
You may hold the WBTC token in your own wallet, but the wrapped asset still depends on institutional actors operating correctly behind the scenes. WBTC tracks Bitcoin’s market value, but it does not inherit Bitcoin’s trust model, and that difference is the single most important thing to understand about it. If your only goal is to hold Bitcoin for the long term and you have no interest in DeFi, native Bitcoin is the cleaner and simpler choice.
The 2024 custody controversy spurred the growth of alternative tokenized Bitcoin products, and they are worth knowing because they offer different trade-offs. One prominent alternative is cbBTC, issued by the exchange Coinbase, which appeals to users who already trust Coinbase’s custody and operate within its ecosystem. Another is tBTC, built by the Threshold Network, which is designed to avoid reliance on a single custodian in favor of a more decentralized model, appealing to users for whom minimizing custodial trust matters more than convenience.
There are others as well, and the broader point is that the tokenized Bitcoin market has become fragmented, offering distinct choices for different priorities. The decision among them is fundamentally about trust model and use case instead of price, since they all track Bitcoin: choose WBTC for the deepest liquidity and the widest integration across established DeFi protocols, choose cbBTC if you prefer Coinbase’s custody, choose tBTC if avoiding a single custodian is your priority, and choose native Bitcoin if you do not need DeFi at all. Wrapped Bitcoin products are tools for a specific purpose, not upgrades to Bitcoin.
Risks and what to check before wrapping The risks of wrapped Bitcoin all stem from the fact that it adds layers of trust on top of simply holding Bitcoin, and understanding them is essential before wrapping any meaningful amount. The primary risk is custodial centralization. Because the wrapped token is only as good as the Bitcoin held in reserve, the failure of the custodian, whether through a hack, insolvency, mismanagement, or loss of access, could impair the backing and leave holders with tokens that no longer correspond to real Bitcoin.
This is not a theoretical concern: history offers cautionary examples of wrapped or bridged Bitcoin products that became impossible to redeem after the entity backing them failed, turning Bitcoin-backed tokens supposedly into worthless or stranded assets. The custody arrangement is the foundation, and if it fails, everything built on it fails with it.
Several other risks compound the custodial one. Smart contract risk means that bugs or vulnerabilities in the Ethereum-side code, or errors in governance, could affect the token. Bridge risk arises when wrapped Bitcoin is moved onto other networks, such as Ethereum layer-two chains, through additional bridges, since each bridging layer adds another set of trust assumptions and another potential point of failure, and you may encounter bridged representations that wrap an already-wrapped token, compounding the risk further. Governance risk means that the parties controlling the system could make decisions, such as the contested custody change, that holders dislike or distrust. And regulatory risk means that official actions could affect redemptions or lead to address restrictions.
The practical advice that follows from all this is to verify before you wrap: check which specific wrapped token and contract you are holding, understand its custody model and who controls the reserves, confirm that proof-of-reserve attestations are current, and make sure you understand the redemption path back to native Bitcoin.
Reviewing the custodian’s transparency, the governance records, and any reputable audits or incident reports before committing meaningful funds is simply prudent. Wrapped Bitcoin is a useful tool that fills a real gap, but it should never be treated as identical to the Bitcoin it represents, because the trust model behind it is fundamentally different.
Frequently Asked Questions What is Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) in simple terms? Wrapped Bitcoin is an Ethereum token backed one-to-one by real Bitcoin held in reserve by a custodian, so one WBTC is meant to always equal one Bitcoin. It exists because native Bitcoin cannot be used inside Ethereum’s decentralized finance applications, which run on smart contracts that Bitcoin does not support. By locking real Bitcoin and issuing an equivalent Ethereum token against it, WBTC lets Bitcoin holders use their Bitcoin’s value for lending, borrowing, trading, and collateral within Ethereum’s ecosystem, without selling their Bitcoin exposure. It tracks Bitcoin’s price closely because every WBTC corresponds to a Bitcoin in reserve.
How does Wrapped Bitcoin work? It works through a mint-and-burn model involving three parties: custodians who hold the Bitcoin, merchants who handle verification and distribution, and users. To create WBTC, a user requests it from a merchant who performs identity checks, the corresponding Bitcoin is sent to the custodian, and an equal amount of WBTC is minted on Ethereum. To convert back, the user submits a redemption request, the WBTC is burned, and the custodian releases the Bitcoin. Both minting and burning are recorded publicly on both blockchains, and proof-of-reserve checks confirm the backing exists. The whole system is overseen by the WBTC DAO.
Is Wrapped Bitcoin the same as Bitcoin? No, and this distinction is crucial. WBTC tracks Bitcoin’s price and can be redeemed one-to-one for Bitcoin, but it is not the same as holding native Bitcoin. With native Bitcoin, your only real concern is controlling your private keys. With WBTC, you also depend on the custodian actually holding the backing Bitcoin, on the reserves being intact, on the governance functioning, and on redemption working. WBTC shares Bitcoin’s price but not its trust model. If you only want to hold Bitcoin long term and do not need decentralized finance, native Bitcoin is the cleaner, simpler choice.
What can you do with Wrapped Bitcoin? WBTC opens up the full range of Ethereum-based decentralized finance to Bitcoin’s value. Because it behaves like any Ethereum token, it can be lent out to earn interest, used as collateral to borrow other assets, supplied to liquidity pools on decentralized exchanges to earn trading fees, and deposited into yield strategies. This lets a Bitcoin holder earn returns or access liquidity while keeping their Bitcoin exposure, instead of selling. WBTC transactions also settle on Ethereum, which produces blocks far more frequently than Bitcoin, so moving wrapped Bitcoin between Ethereum wallets and applications is faster than moving native Bitcoin.
What are the alternatives to WBTC? The main alternatives are other tokenized Bitcoin products with different custody models. cbBTC, issued by Coinbase, suits users who trust Coinbase’s custody and ecosystem. tBTC, built by the Threshold Network, is designed to avoid reliance on a single custodian in favor of a more decentralized model, appealing to those who prioritize minimizing custodial trust. The tokenized Bitcoin market is fragmented, and the choice among options comes down to trust model and use case instead of price. WBTC offers the deepest liquidity and widest DeFi integration, cbBTC offers Coinbase custody, tBTC offers more decentralization, and native Bitcoin is best if you do not need DeFi.
What are the risks of Wrapped Bitcoin? The main risk is custodial centralization: because WBTC is only as good as the Bitcoin held in reserve, the failure of the custodian through a hack, insolvency, or loss of access could impair the backing, and history includes wrapped Bitcoin products that became unredeemable after their backers failed. Additional risks include smart contract vulnerabilities, bridge risk when WBTC is moved to other networks, governance decisions that holders may distrust, and regulatory actions affecting redemption. Before wrapping, verify which token and contract you hold, understand the custody model and reserves, confirm proof-of-reserve attestations, and make sure you understand the redemption path back to native Bitcoin.
This article is educational information, not financial advice. Wrapped Bitcoin and decentralized finance involve significant risks, including custodial failure, smart contract vulnerabilities, and loss of funds. Details of custodians, governance, and alternatives reflect information available as of June 26, 2026, and can change. Verify the current custody model, reserves, and redemption process of any wrapped token from primary sources, and consider your own circumstances before making any decision.
Ethereum trades around its 200-day moving average near $1,668, the line that has separated its bull markets from its bear markets for years. Above it lies a path back toward $3,000. Below it lies an accumulation zone, the charts put as low as $600. The strangest part is that Ethereum’s fundamentals have never been stronger.
Summary
Ethereum trades around $1,650, hovering at its 200-day moving average near $1,668, a level that has historically divided its bull markets from its bear markets. The price is roughly 55-65% below its $4,953 August 2025 all-time high, in a year-long downtrend, even as Ethereum’s fundamentals reach record highs. About 35.8 million ETH, near 30% of supply, is staked, spot ETFs have drawn around $11.6 billion in cumulative inflows, and corporate treasuries hold over 6.2 million ETH, yet none of it has lifted the price. The $1,668 line is the pivot: holding above it keeps a recovery toward $2,300 to $3,000 alive, while losing the $1,580 to $1,600 floor opens a path toward a deep $1,039 to $603 accumulation zone. The catalyst that could flip the line is the Glamsterdam upgrade and a reversal in ETF and treasury flows, but until the macro tide turns, the strongest fundamentals in Ethereum’s history have not been enough. Ethereum is trading around $1,650, which places it almost exactly on the one line that, more than any other, has historically decided whether it is in a bull market or a bear market: its 200-day moving average, currently near $1,668.
For years, this long-term trend line has acted as the dividing line for Ethereum, with sustained periods above it coinciding with recoveries and rallies, and breaks below it preceding extended downtrends.
Right now, Ethereum sits on the knife’s edge of that line, and the direction it breaks will go a long way toward determining its path through the rest of 2026. What makes the moment genuinely strange, and what separates this prediction from a simple chart reading, is the backdrop against which the line is being tested.
Ethereum’s price is down roughly 55-65% from its all-time high near $4,950 set in August 2025, and it has spent the better part of a year grinding lower, yet by almost every fundamental measure, the network has never been in better shape.
More ether is staked than ever, more institutional money has flowed into Ethereum products than ever, and corporate treasuries are accumulating it at a scale that did not exist a year ago. The result is one of the sharpest contrasts in the market: the strongest fundamentals in Ethereum’s history paired with some of its weakest price action since 2022.
This piece is organized around that contrast and around the line that sits at its center. The reason to build an Ethereum prediction this way, rather than as a list of targets, is that Ethereum’s situation is fundamentally a question about whether fundamentals will eventually matter, and the 200-day moving average is where that question gets answered in real time.
If Ethereum holds the line and reclaims the levels above it, the case that its record fundamentals will reassert themselves gains force, and a path back toward $3,000 opens. If it loses the floor beneath the line, the chart points toward a deep accumulation zone far below, and the fundamentals will have failed, for now, to matter.
What follows traces how Ethereum reached this point, why the $1,668 line carries so much weight, the genuinely record-setting fundamentals on one side of the ledger, the bearish forces that have overwhelmed them on the other, the catalysts that could tip the balance, and concrete bull, base, and bear scenarios tied to the line itself.
One line, two futures Begin with why a single moving average deserves to anchor an entire prediction, because for Ethereum, the 200-day moving average has earned its significance. A moving average is simply the average price over a trailing period, in this case 200 days, and it smooths out short-term noise to reveal the underlying trend.
For Ethereum, the 200-day line has historically functioned as the boundary between bull and bear regimes: when the price trades and holds above it, Ethereum has tended to be in recovery or rally mode, and when it breaks decisively below it, extended downtrends have usually followed. That history is why traders treat this level with such respect, and why Ethereum, sitting right on it, near $1,668, is such a charged situation. The price is balanced precisely at the line that separates its two possible futures.
The levels around the line sharpen the stakes. Immediately below the current price, the $1,600-$1,650 area has held as the floor for 2026, the zone buyers have repeatedly defended, and a brief dip toward $1,580 during the June selloff was bought back. Above, the first resistance sits in the $1,700-$1,800 range, with a more significant barrier near $2,000 and the major structural hurdle at $3,000, where Ethereum would reclaim its long-term trend.
The asymmetry that worries bears is what lies beneath the floor. Technical analysts who map the downside warn that a decisive break below the $1,580 area and the broader monthly support could open a much deeper decline toward an accumulation zone they place between roughly $1,600, a drop of another 30-60% from current levels.
Ethereum daily price chart | Source: crypto.news So the line is not merely a number; it is the hinge between a recovery path toward $3,000 and an abyss toward $600, which is what makes holding or losing it the central question for Ethereum in 2026.
How ETH got here To understand why Ethereum is testing this line at all, you have to trace the decline from its peak, because the fall has been long and grinding rather than a single crash. Ethereum reached its all-time high near $4,950 in August 2025, lifted by enthusiasm around its newly launched exchange-traded funds and growing staking participation.
From that peak, the descent was relentless, with Ethereum closing out a long streak of red months, its worst such run in years, and sliding through the second half of 2025 and into 2026.
By early 2026, it had fallen below $3,000, and the weakness continued through the spring, with the price working steadily lower in a descending channel of lower highs and lower lows that defined the year.
The June selloff that brought Ethereum to its current levels near $1,600 was the latest leg of this extended downtrend, not a sudden break from an otherwise healthy trend.
The causes were a convergence of pressures rather than any single shock. Broader risk-off sentiment across crypto, driven by macroeconomic uncertainty and concerns about the path of interest rates, weighed on Ethereum as a high-risk asset. Persistent outflows from spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds removed a key source of demand and, during the worst stretches, became active selling pressure.
Selling attributed to Ethereum’s own co-founder added to the bearish narrative. And Ethereum’s tendency to amplify Bitcoin’s moves meant that as Bitcoin slid toward $60,000, Ethereum fell harder, because it typically rises faster in bull conditions and declines more sharply in risk-off periods.
The cumulative effect was a year-long erosion that has left Ethereum testing the line that separates recovery from a deeper bear market, with the price having given back the majority of its gains from the prior cycle. That is the chart context. The fundamental context, remarkably, points the other way.
Why $1,668 matters so much It is worth dwelling on the significance of the line itself, because the entire technical case for Ethereum hinges on it, and the reasoning is not arbitrary. The 200-day moving average works as a regime indicator precisely because it filters out short-term volatility and captures the medium-to-long-term trend, which is why both technical traders and the algorithms that drive a large share of market activity pay close attention to it.
For Ethereum specifically, the historical record shows that this line has repeatedly marked the transition between bull and bear phases, so a sustained position above it tends to attract trend-following buyers and signal strength, while a decisive break below it tends to trigger trend-following selling and signal weakness. The line becomes partly self-fulfilling because so many participants treat it as meaningful that their collective behavior reinforces its importance.
Right now, the line is doing something subtle and worrying beneath the surface: even as the price hovers around it, the 200-day average itself has begun to slope downward, which technicians read as a sign of underlying long-term weakness instead of strength. A price clinging to a falling long-term average is in a more precarious position than one riding a rising average, because the trend line that is supposed to provide support is itself drifting lower.
This is why the current test is so consequential. If Ethereum can hold above the line, stabilize, and push back through the resistance levels above it, the long-term average can flatten and turn up, flipping the regime back toward recovery. If it loses the line and the floor beneath it, the falling average becomes overhead resistance, and the path of least resistance points toward the deep accumulation zone the bears identify.
The $1,668 line, in other words, is not just where the price happens to be; it is the level at which Ethereum’s medium-term fate is being decided.
The strongest fundamentals in Ethereum’s history Here is the contrast that makes Ethereum’s situation so unusual, and it deserves to be laid out fully, because on fundamentals, the network is arguably in the best shape it has ever been.
Start with staking, the mechanism by which holders lock up ether to help secure the network and earn a yield. As of early 2026, roughly 35.8 million ether, close to 30% of the entire circulating supply, is staked, secured by around one point one million validators, with a staking yield in the range of 2.8-3.5% annually.
That staked proportion has nearly tripled since early 2023, when about 11% of supply was staked, reflecting steadily growing confidence and the popularity of liquid staking and restaking. A large and rising share of supply locked in staking reduces the ether available to sell on the open market, a structurally supportive dynamic.
The institutional picture is equally striking. Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds have attracted roughly 11.6 billion dollars in cumulative net inflows since launching, with the largest single product holding well over $6 billion in assets, giving traditional investors regulated access to ether and, through the staking yield increasingly available, a competitive income component.
Beyond the funds, corporate treasuries have embraced ether as a reserve asset at a scale that did not exist a year earlier, collectively holding over 6.2 million ether, up from under 1 million in mid-2025, led by a treasury company that alone holds several million ether, a meaningful slice of the total supply.
Layered on top is an accelerating upgrade cadence, with major protocol improvements deployed in 2025 and a twice-yearly schedule of further upgrades designed to scale the network.
By every one of these measures, more staked, more institutional capital, more corporate adoption, more frequent upgrades, Ethereum’s fundamentals are at or near record strength. And none of it has stopped the price from falling, which is the puzzle the rest of the prediction has to confront.
The bear case: why the fundamentals have not mattered The hard truth for Ethereum bulls is that strong fundamentals have, so far, been no match for the forces pushing the price down, and understanding why is essential to any honest prediction.
The first and most powerful force is the macro environment and Ethereum’s nature as a high-beta risk asset. Ethereum tends to amplify the broader market’s moves, so in a period of risk aversion, tightening financial conditions, and a sliding Bitcoin, Ethereum falls harder regardless of how strong its network fundamentals are, because the selling is driven by macro flows that do not care about staking ratios or upgrade schedules. When capital is fleeing risk, the quality of Ethereum’s fundamentals offers little protection.
The second force is the reversal of the very institutional demand that forms part of the bull case. The exchange-traded funds that brought billions into Ethereum have, during the downturn, seen persistent outflows, turning a source of demand into a source of selling and showing that institutional money can flee as readily as it arrived.
The third is a structural tension within Ethereum’s own design: the growth of layer-two networks, which handle transactions more cheaply by settling on Ethereum, expands the ecosystem’s usage but also reduces the fee pressure on the main chain, complicating the link between network activity and ether’s value.
The fourth is competition from other blockchains vying for the same developers, users, and capital, which caps the premium the market is willing to pay.
And the fifth is simply sentiment and narrative: with the price in a year-long downtrend and a co-founder seen selling, the story around Ethereum has soured, and narrative drives crypto prices more than fundamentals over any given stretch.
The bears’ summary is blunt: the ether trade may be structurally broken, with the token failing to capture the value its thriving network creates, and until the macro tide turns, the record fundamentals are a reason to watch instead of a reason the price must rise.
The catalysts that could flip the line For the fundamentals to start mattering, something has to change the flow of money and the narrative, and several potential catalysts could do exactly that, which is where the bull case regains its footing.
The most specific is the network’s continued upgrade path. A major scaling upgrade expected in the first half of 2026, followed by another in the second half, is designed to deliver measurable improvements to the main chain, and a successful, well-received upgrade could refresh the narrative around Ethereum, reminding the market of the network’s technical leadership and giving institutional and retail buyers a concrete reason to re-engage.
Upgrades have historically been catalysts for Ethereum when they land well, and the twice-yearly cadence means there are regular opportunities for a positive surprise.
The second catalyst is a reversal in the institutional flows. The exchange-traded fund outflows have been a primary drag, so a durable shift back to sustained inflows, perhaps helped by the staking yield making the funds more competitive against fixed-income products, would remove that selling pressure and could turn the funds back into the demand engine the bull case envisions.
The continued accumulation by corporate treasuries is a related signal; if treasuries keep buying through the weakness and the whale wallets that have been adding to positions during the dip prove to be the leading edge of renewed institutional conviction, the resulting supply squeeze, with so much ether staked and locked, could lift the price sharply once demand returns.
The third catalyst is macro: a shift toward easier monetary policy or a broader return of risk appetite would lift high-beta assets like Ethereum, and given how much it has fallen, the rebound could be substantial. The honest framing is that Ethereum has loaded the spring, with record fundamentals and locked supply, and the catalysts above are what could release it, but each depends on forces, especially the macro backdrop, that are not yet in place.
The bull, base, and bear cases for 2026 Tying the scenarios to the line and the catalysts makes them concrete. These are conditional ranges, not predictions, and each hinges on whether Ethereum holds its pivotal level and whether the catalysts arrive.
Bull case: Ethereum holds the $1,668 line, a well-received scaling upgrade refreshes the narrative, exchange-traded fund flows reverse back to sustained inflows, and a friendlier macro backdrop returns risk appetite. The locked supply from record staking amplifies the move as demand returns, and Ethereum recovers through resistance toward the $2,300-$3,000 zone, with the most bullish institutional targets pointing well above that over a longer horizon as the fundamentals finally reassert themselves Base case: Ethereum chops around the line for an extended period, holding the $1,580-$1,700 range as treasury accumulation offsets continued fund outflows, with the strong fundamentals preventing a collapse but the weak macro preventing a breakout. In this scenario, Ethereum grinds sideways near current levels, waiting for a catalyst, with direction deferred to the second half of the year. Bear case: Ethereum loses the $1,668 line and the $1,580 floor decisively, fund outflows continue, Bitcoin drags the market lower, and the falling long-term average becomes overhead resistance. The chart’s deep accumulation zone comes into play, and Ethereum declines toward the $1,000-$1,600 region the bears identify, with the record fundamentals failing, for this cycle, to matter against the macro tide. What to watch For anyone tracking whether Ethereum’s fundamentals will finally translate into price, the analysis points to a focused watchlist, and the first item is the line itself. Whether Ethereum holds the $1,668 200-day moving average and the $1,580 floor beneath it, or loses them decisively, is the single clearest signal of which scenario is unfolding, because that level marks the boundary between the recovery path and the deep-accumulation path.
A sustained reclaim of the resistance above the line would be powerfully bullish; a decisive break of the floor would be powerfully bearish. Everything else feeds into that binary.
The second item is the flow data. The exchange-traded fund outflows have been the primary drag, so a durable reversal to net inflows would be among the strongest possible signals that institutional demand is returning, while continued outflows would confirm the bearish reading. The behavior of corporate treasuries and large accumulating wallets matters alongside the funds; sustained buying through weakness supports the bull case, and any sign of treasuries slowing or selling would be a serious warning given how much of the supply-squeeze thesis rests on them.
The third item is the upgrade path and its reception, since a well-received scaling upgrade is the most concrete near-term catalyst that could refresh the narrative. And the fourth, as always, is the macro environment, because Ethereum’s high-beta nature means a shift in monetary policy or risk appetite would move it more than almost any network development.
The honest synthesis is that Ethereum is a coiled spring of record fundamentals and locked supply held down by a hostile macro tape, and the 200-day line is where the contest between the two is being decided.
Watch the line, watch the flows, and resist the temptation to assume that strong fundamentals must win quickly, because Ethereum’s entire recent history is a reminder that they have not.
Frequently Asked Questions Why is the $1,668 level so important for Ethereum? Because it is Ethereum’s 200-day moving average, a long-term trend line that has historically divided its bull markets from its bear markets. When Ethereum trades and holds above it, the network has tended to be in recovery or rally mode; when it breaks decisively below, extended downtrends have usually followed. Many traders and automated strategies treat the line as a regime indicator, which makes it partly self-fulfilling. With Ethereum sitting right on the line, the direction it breaks will signal whether a recovery toward $3,000 or a deeper decline toward the chart’s accumulation zone is more likely.
Why is Ethereum’s price falling when its fundamentals are so strong? Because macro forces and Ethereum’s nature as a high-risk asset have overwhelmed the fundamentals. Ethereum amplifies the broader market’s moves, so in a period of risk aversion, tightening conditions, and a sliding Bitcoin, it falls hard regardless of staking ratios or upgrades. The exchange-traded funds that had bought billions in inflows have seen persistent outflows, turning demand into selling. Layer-two growth complicates the link between network usage and ether’s value, competition caps the premium, and a soured narrative drives sentiment. Over any given stretch, flows and narrative move crypto prices more than fundamentals, which is why record fundamentals have not lifted the price.
How strong are Ethereum’s fundamentals right now? By most measures, the strongest in its history. Roughly thirty-five point eight million ether, near 30% of the supply, is staked, nearly triple the proportion of early 2023, which locks up supply. Spot exchange-traded funds have drawn around $11.6 billion in cumulative inflows, with the largest product holding over $6 billion. Corporate treasuries hold over 6.2 million ether, up from under 1 million in mid-2025. And the network is on an accelerating upgrade schedule. The contrast between these record fundamentals and the weak price is precisely what makes Ethereum’s current situation so unusual.
How low could Ethereum go? If it loses the $1,668 line and the $1,580 floor decisively, technical analysts who map the downside identify a deep accumulation zone between roughly $1,600, which would be another 30-60% below current levels. This is the bear scenario, not a forecast, and it depends on continued fund outflows, a falling long-term average turning into resistance, and Bitcoin dragging the market lower. The bull scenario, in which Ethereum holds the line and recovers toward $3,000, is equally coherent. Which path unfolds depends on the line, the flows, the upgrades, and the macro environment.
What could turn Ethereum’s price around? Several catalysts could flip the trend. A well-received scaling upgrade could refresh the narrative and give buyers a concrete reason to re-engage. A durable reversal of exchange-traded fund outflows back to sustained inflows would remove the primary drag and restore demand. Continued accumulation by corporate treasuries and large wallets, combined with the locked supply from record staking, could create a supply squeeze that lifts the price sharply once demand returns. And a shift toward easier monetary policy or renewed risk appetite would lift high-beta Ethereum substantially. Each depends on forces, especially the macro backdrop, that are not yet fully in place.
Is the “ETH trade” broken? That is the bears’ core argument: that Ether, the token, is failing to capture the value its thriving network creates, because layer-two growth reduces main-chain fee pressure, institutional flows have reversed, and the price has fallen for a year despite record fundamentals. The bull rebuttal is that the fundamentals have built a coiled spring of locked supply and structural demand that will release once the macro tide turns and a catalyst arrives, and that the current weakness is macro-driven instead of a permanent break. The honest position is that the question is unresolved, and the 200-day line is where the market is deciding it.
This article is information, not investment advice. The scenarios described are conditional ranges that depend on unresolved questions, not predictions, and Ethereum is highly volatile. Prices, flows, staking figures, and fundamentals reflect reporting available as of June 26, 2026, and can change quickly. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell. Verify current data from primary sources and consider your own circumstances before making any decision
USDT temporarily flipped ETH to become the second-biggest cryptocurrency.
Almost every major altcoin has taken a beating in recent months, and Ethereum is no exception, with its price plunging to a 14-month bottom.
Analysts now warn that it could be on the verge of a further slump, with some floating the idea of a crash to a multi-year low of around $1,000.
The Red Days Aren’t Over? The prolonged bear market hasn’t been the only thing suppressing ETH’s valuation lately. As CryptoPotato reported, Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down as the Ethereum Foundation’s co-executive director and board member, while shortly after, the entity reduced its workforce by 20%.
Following the combination of the numerous negative developments, ETH’s price nosedived to just north of $1,500, while its market capitalization briefly tumbled below $183 billion. This means that for a moment, Tether’s USDT flipped Ethereum to become the second-largest cryptocurrency. ETH has reclaimed its prestigious spot, albeit leading by a slim margin.
According to Ali Martinez, the asset has been trading inside a crucial volume block between $1,584 and $1,683, where nearly 4 million coins have changed hands. He claimed that securing this “specific area” as support can open the door to the next major supply clusters at $1,980 and $2,079.
At the same time, the analyst warned that losing this baseline (as it happened just hours ago) might result in a deeper plunge to $1,237 and even $1,089.
X user Ryker also shared their outlook, predicting a drop to $1,260 before a potential rally above $3K. Merlijn The Trader highlighted the forecast, noting that Ryker is the only trader followed by Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on X.
You may also like: Bitcoin (BTC) Dips Below $62K, Ethereum (ETH) Plunges 6% Daily: Market Watch 5 Reasons Why Bitcoin Just Crashed Below $63K as Liquidations Top $500M Bitmine Buys 52K ETH as Tom Lee Believes the Best Years for Crypto Are Still Ahead Previous Predictions Earlier this month, X user Ted opined that ETH is more likely to reach its cycle bottom before Bitcoin (BTC). Back then, he claimed that most of the downside liquidity has been taken out, projecting a downfall to $1,300-$1,400. For their part, Niels envisioned a drop to $1,200 sometime this year.
Recent whale activity reinforces the bearish outlook. X user Max Crypto revealed that one large investor opened a $68 million short position on ETH with 23x leverage, while Justin Wu outlined that four OG wallets have started dumping their holdings.
Whales are known as experienced market participants who may have inside information about upcoming events that could influence the price. That’s why their efforts are closely monitored by retail investors who could panic and cash out as well.
PANews June 27 news, according to SoSoValue data, yesterday (U.S. Eastern Time June 26) Ethereum spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $12.848 million.
The Ethereum spot ETF with the largest single-day net outflow yesterday was BlackRock's ETF ETHA, which recorded a single-day net outflow of $12.848 million. ETHA's historical total net inflow currently stands at $11.08 billion.
As of press time, the total net asset value of Ethereum spot ETFs is $8.379 billion, the ETF net asset ratio (market value as a percentage of Ethereum's total market value) reaches 4.42%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached $10.903 billion.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have jointly called for public comment on their approach to harmonizing regulatory frameworks for crypto futures. The proposed public comment on the SEC CFTC framework comes amid the recent approval of crypto perpetual futures in the U.S.
Calls For Public Comment On SEC CFTC Framework In a press release, the SEC and CFTC issued a joint request for public comment on potential approaches to further harmonize regulatory frameworks applicable to portfolio margining across securities, security-based swaps, futures, swaps, and related positions. The public comment period will remain open for 60 days after the publication in the Federal Register. This is significant as the CFTC notably regulates prediction markets, which trade swaps.
Furthermore, this follows the launch of crypto perpetual futures in the U.S., with Kalshi securing CFTC approval to offer BTC, ETH, XRP, and HYPE futures. The request for public comment on the SEC CFTC framework also comes amid the rise in tokenized securities, with platforms such as Hyperliquid offering perpetuals for these securities.
The SEC and CFTC noted that the request for comment will assist them in evaluating whether greater coordination or alignment in portfolio margining requirements may improve risk management efficiency, reduce unnecessary market fragmentation, and enhance consumer protections.
Meanwhile, this marks the latest coordination between the SEC and CFTC towards providing clear frameworks that boost the crypto and financial markets. As CoinGape reported, the SEC and CFTC are pushing to clarify the definitions of derivative products, including definitions of swaps and security-based swaps, and how to treat them.
A Move To Further Promote Innovation SEC Chair Paul Atkins noted that further harmonizing the SEC CFTC framework will ensure that jurisdictional overlap does not stifle innovation and efficiency. “Cross-margining offers a clear opportunity to unlock liquidity that remains frozen in separate accounts, and we encourage market participants to provide feedback on ideas that will help improve coordination between both agencies,” he said.
Commenting on this move, CFTC Chair Michael Selig said that fostering enhanced cooperation between the two agencies on portfolio margining promises to unlock untapped capital while ensuring a more robust risk management framework and market protections. The CFTC is currently facing a lawsuit from the CME over its approval of crypto futures.
The CME argues that crypto perpetuals are swaps, not futures contracts, and that the regulator approved these products the wrong way. These crypto futures are already seeing significant demand, with Kalshi’s products recording over $1 billion in trading volume in under two weeks after they launched.
Bitcoin and altcoins continue to experience sharp declines due to ongoing ETF outflows, a more hawkish Fed, and a stronger dollar.
As Bitcoin fell to levels as low as $58,000 in the recent decline, expectations for June on the forecasting market Polymarket were also reshaped.
At this point, investors are expecting a decline, especially for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, and XRP.
According to Polymarket data, the price expectations for BTC, ETH, and XRP in June were as follows.
1. Bitcoin (BTC): Predictions titled “What Price Will Bitcoin Reach in June?” indicate that a decline in BTC prices is the dominant expectation.
A drop below $57,500 is the most likely scenario, with a 49% probability. This is followed by a 37% probability of Bitcoin rising above $62,500. This is followed by a 19% probability of Bitcoin falling below $55,000. Finally, the possibility of Bitcoin rising above $65,000 only covers about 10% of the target. 2. Ethereum (ETH): In predictions titled “What Will Ethereum’s Price Be in June?”, bearish forecasts for Ethereum are also prominent.
The most dominant scenario is a drop below $1,500, with a 66% probability priced in. A drop below $1,400 is priced in with a 22% probability. The probability of Ethereum surpassing $2,000 is priced at only 1%. 3.XRP: In predictions titled “What will the price of XRP be in June?”, bearish forecasts for XRP are prominent.
The most likely scenario is a drop below $1, with a 70% probability of the price being priced in. Secondly, a drop below $0.8 is priced in with a 2% probability. In contrast, a move above $1.4 is priced in with only a 1% probability. *This is not investment advice.
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Bitcoin and altcoins continue to experience sharp declines due to ongoing ETF outflows, a more hawkish Fed, and a stronger dollar.
As Bitcoin fell to levels as low as $58,000 in the recent decline, expectations for June on the forecasting market Polymarket were also reshaped.
At this point, investors are expecting a decline, especially for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, and XRP.
According to Polymarket data, the price expectations for BTC, ETH, and XRP in June were as follows.
1. Bitcoin (BTC): Predictions titled “What Price Will Bitcoin Reach in June?” indicate that a decline in BTC prices is the dominant expectation.
A drop below $57,500 is the most likely scenario, with a 49% probability. This is followed by a 37% probability of Bitcoin rising above $62,500. This is followed by a 19% probability of Bitcoin falling below $55,000. Finally, the possibility of Bitcoin rising above $65,000 only covers about 10% of the target. 2. Ethereum (ETH): In predictions titled “What Will Ethereum’s Price Be in June?”, bearish forecasts for Ethereum are also prominent.
The most dominant scenario is a drop below $1,500, with a 66% probability priced in. A drop below $1,400 is priced in with a 22% probability. The probability of Ethereum surpassing $2,000 is priced at only 1%. 3.XRP: In predictions titled “What will the price of XRP be in June?”, bearish forecasts for XRP are prominent.
The most likely scenario is a drop below $1, with a 70% probability of the price being priced in. Secondly, a drop below $0.8 is priced in with a 2% probability. In contrast, a move above $1.4 is priced in with only a 1% probability. *This is not investment advice.
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SharpLink, the Nasdaq-listed company that has quietly built one of the largest corporate Ethereum treasuries in existence, started buying again on June 26. The firm scooped up 5,000 ETH worth approximately $7.85 million through crypto brokerage FalconX, its first purchase since October 2025.
That eight-month silence had started to raise eyebrows. Now, with total holdings sitting at 876,285 ETH, SharpLink trails only the Ethereum Foundation itself among corporate holders. For a company nursing an unrealized loss north of $1.7 billion, the decision to resume buying says something about conviction, or at least about the strategy they’re committed to riding out.
The numbers behind the buy On-chain analysts at EmberCN and Arkham Intelligence confirmed the transaction independently. The 5,000 ETH acquisition is modest by SharpLink’s historical standards, but the signal matters more than the size.
SharpLink’s last purchase came in October 2025, when it acquired roughly 19,270 ETH. Before that, the company had executed far larger capital-raise-funded buys, including transactions exceeding 100,000 ETH during 2025 alone.
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The company’s average purchase price across its entire position lands around $3,609 per ETH. With Ether trading well below that level, the math is uncomfortable: SharpLink’s unrealized loss sits somewhere between $1.71 billion and $1.8 billion.
During the eight months it wasn’t buying, SharpLink generated approximately 22,102 ETH through staking rewards alone. That’s roughly $34.6 million in ETH at current prices, earned simply by locking up tokens to help secure the Ethereum network.
From gaming affiliate to Ethereum whale SharpLink’s journey to becoming crypto’s second-largest corporate ETH holder is one of the more dramatic pivots in recent market history. The company, which trades under the ticker SBET, originally operated as a sports betting and gaming affiliate business. Around mid-2025, it shifted its entire corporate identity toward Ethereum treasury accumulation.
The leadership roster tells you this wasn’t a casual decision. Joseph Chalom, a former BlackRock executive, sits in a key role. Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin is also involved.
SharpLink has funded its accumulation through equity issuances and institutional partnerships, including a notable relationship with Galaxy. The company has also emphasized transparency, publishing detailed dashboards of its holdings.
What this means for investors For ETH holders and traders, SharpLink has financial incentive to support Ethereum’s value through continued accumulation and staking. Every ETH it stakes generates more ETH, compounding its position regardless of price action.
SharpLink’s entire corporate value proposition is tied to a single asset. Investors buying SBET shares aren’t getting diversified crypto exposure. They’re getting levered ETH exposure with a corporate wrapper.
The staking yield component does provide a buffer that pure Bitcoin treasury companies don’t have. SharpLink’s 22,102 ETH in staking rewards during its buying pause demonstrates that the treasury generates income even when the company isn’t actively deploying capital.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
An Ethereum whale who shorted Ether (ETH) during the October 2025 crypto crash has returned after eight months of silence.
Key takeaways:
Ethereum whale opens a $19.72 million 20x ETH short near the $1,500 support zone.ETH’s bear flag setup hints at a decline toward $1,375, which may earn the whale roughly $2.39 million in profits.Ethereum whale opens 20x short after eight-month hiatusOn Friday, wallet '0xf83f...6728' opened a 20x-leveraged ETH short worth $19.72 million as Ether reached the $1,500 support zone after dropping 18.25% over the last two weeks.
The position was opened at an average price of around $1,565, according to data resource Hyperbot. As of this press time, the whale had earned nearly $106,500 in unrealized profits as the ETH price dropped around the $1,550 area.
Ethereum whale's $19.72M position status as of Friday. Source: Hyperbot
The downside sentiment in the Ethereum market has tracked a broader tech-led risk selloff, with traders cutting exposure to speculative assets as Nasdaq and chip stocks came under pressure.
Ethereum-specific sentiment has weakened further amid renewed scrutiny of the Ethereum Foundation, following reports of budget cuts, staff reductions and a wave of senior departures that have raised questions about the organization’s leadership stability.
Ether is eyeing a decline toward the $1,375 level if it continues the breakdown out of its prevailing bear flag pattern.
ETH/USD daily price chart tracking the bear flag breakdown setup. Source: TradingView
If ETH falls to $1,375, the whale’s unrealized profit would rise to roughly $2.39 million before fees and funding, based on the position’s approximate $1,565 entry price.
Same whale shorted ETH near October 2025 crash topThe wallet’s latest move stands out because of its trading history.
Transaction logs show that wallet '0xf83f...6728' last became active on Oct. 27, 2025, when it opened an ETH short near $4,172 as volatility from the October crypto crash was easing.
The trader later closed the position near $4,133, booking $41,693 in net profit after $5,263 in exchange fees.
Ethereum whale's filled ETH orders from October 2025. Source: Hyperbot
The whale's current strategy appears similar: short ETH into weakness, use high leverage, and lean into downside momentum. The scale has changed sharply, however, since the current position carries nearly $20 million in notional exposure, making it far larger than the whale’s October 2025 trade.
ETH double bottom could threaten the whale’s shortThe whale’s bearish bet is not without risk.
As of Friday, Ether’s daily chart showed a potential double bottom near the $1,500–$1,512 support area, where buyers stepped in twice in June. The setup remains unconfirmed, but a strong rebound from this zone could shift short-term momentum back toward the bulls.
The key level to watch is the neckline near $1,850. A decisive daily close above that level would confirm the double bottom pattern and open the door to a measured rebound toward roughly $2,190, based on the distance between the neckline and the $1,512 bottom.
That would put ETH close to the whale’s liquidation zone near $2,150, meaning a confirmed bullish reversal could pressure or even wipe out the short position if the trader does not add collateral or reduce exposure.
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.
Ethereum is on the road to the abyss, but it has not lost its allure in the eyes of the boldest investors. No question for the whales to remain unmoved in the face of such an opportunity. Sharplink understood from the start and jumps on the occasion like a predator on its prey. One question arises here: when fear dominates, should reason buy without hesitation?
In brief Sharplink bought 5,000 ETH at the lowest point of 2026 after eight months of pause. The company holds 876,285 ETH with a latent loss of 1.71 billion dollars. CEO Joseph Chalom is betting on the CLARITY Act and the growth of tokenized RWAs. Sharplink joins the Russell indices, which could broaden its shareholder base. Sharplink scoops up 5,000 ETH at the year’s low Sharplink resumed its Ethereum purchases after eight long months of complete strategic silence. The company bought 5,000 ETH for about 7.85 million dollars via FalconX. The operation took place as Ethereum hit its lowest level of the year at 1,537 dollars.
CEO Joseph Chalom had identified three catalysts for the rise of ETH. The CLARITY Act, the return of risk appetite, and the growth of tokenized RWAs. Some are beginning to progressively materialize in financial markets.
I see a real conviction of institutional accumulation that remains strong despite low prices.
Source: Andri Fauzan Adziima, Bitrue Research Institute, Cointelegraph, June 26, 2026. The company acts as a conviction investor in the crypto market.
$1.7 billion in losses: a strategy under maximum pressure The contradiction is harsh and challenges all crypto and Ethereum market observers. Sharplink now holds 876,285 ETH with an average purchase price of 3,609 dollars. The latent loss reaches 1.71 billion dollars at the current Ethereum price.
The company buys at the lowest, but it also buys amid a dizzying price plunge. Analysts are deeply divided on this risky and controversial strategy. Some see it as a strong and admirable institutional conviction in Ethereum. Others see a dangerous strategy that could cost shareholders dearly.
The purchase of 5,000 ETH remains modest, but the signal is powerful for crypto markets. The company is betting everything on the long-term recovery of Ethereum.
We believe we are in the early stages of the crypto spring.
Source: Tom Lee, Bitmine, Cointelegraph, June 26, 2026. Sharplink’s bet is colossal and deeply divides experts.
Ethereum treasury firms play the waiting game on the crypto market Sharplink is not alone in this strategy of massive accumulation on Ethereum and crypto markets. Bitmine holds 5.67 million ETH, more than six times Sharplink’s holdings. Ethereum treasury companies continue to accumulate despite massive ETF outflows.
Sharplink’s inclusion in the Russell 2000 and 3000 indices could broaden its shareholder base. The catalysts identified by Chalom could raise Ethereum’s price in crypto markets. SBET stock rose 0.22% after hours following the announcement.
The path to recovery remains long and fraught with pitfalls for Ethereum and the crypto market. Institutional conviction in Ethereum remains intact, despite appearances and doubts.
This massive accumulation raises questions about the deep nature of value in the crypto universe. Philosophy teaches us that the greatest wealth is often built in adversity.
Key figures of Sharplink 5,000 ETH bought at 1,537 dollars; 876,285 ETH held in total; 1.71 billion dollars in latent loss; 22,102 ETH earned by staking; ETH price at 1,578 dollars at the time of writing. Sharplink resumed its Ethereum purchases at the lowest point of the year, despite colossal latent losses. The Ethereum treasury company strategy remains unchanged: accumulate, whatever happens. Some analysts predict three consecutive quarters of decline for Ethereum. A bleak scenario that could severely test the patience of the most convinced investors.
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La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose
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Polymarket traders assign a 76% probability that Ethereum will reach $1,500 before the end of 2026, reflecting near-total conviction in further downside from current levels. U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded 17 consecutive days of net outflows totaling $401 million in May 2026, setting the longest institutional withdrawal streak in ETH history. A confirmed death cross on the daily chart, where the 50-day EMA crossed below the 200-day EMA, preceded months of further decline in both prior Ethereum bear markets. The Glamsterdam protocol upgrade, originally targeting June 2026, has been delayed to Q3 2026, removing the primary near-term catalyst that bulls had used to anchor support. Ethereum trades below its 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day exponential moving averages, all clustered between $1,740 and $2,050, creating a dense resistance wall above current price action. Ethereum traded near $1,670 on June 25, 2026, holding just above a support zone that has protected every major low since the 2022 bear market bottom. The $1,500 level has drawn $3.9 million in total volume on Polymarket prediction markets alone, where traders now price a 76% chance that ETH reaches that threshold before year-end.
That conviction stems from a convergence of signals: record ETF outflows, a confirmed death cross, and a delayed protocol upgrade that had been the last remaining bullish catalyst for Q2.
This article examines the technical, fundamental, and on-chain data behind the growing consensus that $1,500 is no longer a floor but a destination, and what that shift means for positioning.
Record ETF Outflows Signal Institutional Retreat U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs logged 17 consecutive trading days of net outflows in May, totaling $401 million and setting a record for the longest institutional withdrawal streak Ethereum has experienced.
On June 23 alone, ETH ETFs recorded $82 million in net outflows, marking the fourth straight day of withdrawals as market caution grew amid U.S.-Iran tensions and shifting interest rate expectations. The institutional retreat contrasts sharply with the accumulation thesis that dominated late 2025.
When spot ETH ETFs launched, proponents argued that regulated institutional vehicles would create a persistent demand floor.
That thesis has not survived contact with a 65% drawdown from the approximately $4,950 all-time high reached in August 2025. Funding rates have turned negative and open interest has declined sharply, suggesting a leverage flush rather than a fresh uptrend, according to data reviewed by Cryptopolitan analysts.
Death Cross and Descending Channel Frame the Technical Picture A death cross confirmed on the daily chart when the 50-day exponential moving average crossed below the 200-day EMA. In Ethereum’s prior bear markets of 2018 and 2022, this signal preceded months of further decline before any sustained recovery began.
ETH currently trades below its 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day EMAs, all clustered between $1,740 and $2,050. That alignment creates a dense resistance wall. Analyst Ardi stated on X that ETH has one responsibility over the next four months: do not start closing below $1,500.
He noted the level has held every major low since the 2022 bottom, and losing it would force a reconsideration of bullish assumptions, Ardi wrote on June 24. Immediate support sits at $1,585, with a deeper floor at $1,468 if the current level fails.
Glamsterdam Delay Removes the Last Bullish Catalyst The Glamsterdam upgrade represents Ethereum’s most significant protocol change since the Merge. Originally targeting June 2026, the upgrade has been officially delayed to Q3 2026, removing the primary catalyst that bulls had been using to anchor a price floor for the current quarter.
Glamsterdam’s two headline components are Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) and Block-Level Access Lists (BALs). The ePBS feature removes reliance on third-party MEV relays to match block builders with validators.
BALs enable parallel transaction execution by requiring each block to declare upfront which accounts it will read and write. A confirmed 200-million-gas limit floor was set at the Soldøgn Interop in April 2026, representing a 233% increase from the current limit.
Analysis: The delay matters because price catalysts derive their power from proximity. A Q2 upgrade creates a tradable event in the present quarter; a Q3 timeline pushes it into seasonal low-volume months, reducing the probability that institutional capital will front-run the event.
Prediction Markets Quantify the Downside Consensus Polymarket now prices a 76% chance that ETH hits $1,500 before year-end, while Kalshi shows 73%. That level of convergence across two independent prediction platforms is unusual.
The $1,500 zone aligns with a high-footprint anchored volume profile, according to Coinpedia analysis, meaning significant historical volume traded at that price, which can act as either support or a magnet for price.
Analyst James Easton compared Ethereum’s current weekly chart to the Russell 2000 index. The Russell 2000 has broken above its resistance near 2,500, but Ethereum remains below its equivalent zone near $4,300 to $5,100.
A confirmed move above approximately $5,100 could place Ethereum in price discovery, Easton noted, though that requires a reversal of the current downtrend as a prerequisite.
Regulatory Implications The SEC has not issued new guidance on spot Ethereum ETFs during the current drawdown. If outflows continue at the current pace, issuers may face pressure to reduce fees or restructure fund terms to stem redemptions.
The delayed Glamsterdam upgrade also raises questions about whether the SEC’s classification framework for ETH could shift if staking mechanics change significantly post-upgrade.
What’s Next? The immediate test is whether ETH can hold above $1,585 and reclaim $1,685 on a daily close. The Glamsterdam upgrade timeline in Q3 2026 provides the next fundamental catalyst. Prediction market pricing currently embeds an assumption that the $1,500 test is a matter of when, not if.
FAQs What does the Ethereum death cross mean for price?
A death cross occurs when the 50-day EMA crosses below the 200-day EMA, signaling medium-term momentum has turned negative relative to the long-term trend.
How many consecutive days of ETH ETF outflows occurred?
U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded 17 consecutive days of net outflows in May 2026, totaling $401 million and setting a record for institutional ETH withdrawal streaks.
What is the Glamsterdam upgrade for Ethereum?
Glamsterdam is Ethereum’s next major protocol upgrade, featuring Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation and Block-Level Access Lists, now delayed from June to Q3 2026 release.
What probability do prediction markets assign to ETH hitting $1,500?
Polymarket prices a 76% chance, and Kalshi shows 73% probability that ETH will reach $1,500 before the end of the 2026 calendar year.
Where is the next major Ethereum support level?
Immediate support sits at $1,585 with a deeper floor at $1,468, and the $1,500 level aligns with anchored volume profile data from prior cycles.
What caused the Ethereum price decline in 2026?
A combination of record ETF outflows, a confirmed death cross, the Glamsterdam upgrade delay, and broader macro risk-off sentiment drove ETH below $1,700.
Can Ethereum recover above $5,000 from current levels?
Analyst James Easton noted a confirmed move above $5,100 could place ETH in price discovery, but the current descending channel must reverse first.
References TechTimes: Ethereum Price Prediction 2026: 17-Day ETF Outflow Record Targets $1,500 Support Analytics Insight: Ethereum Price Today: ETH Holds Critical $1,500 Support Coinpaper: Ethereum Price Prediction: Can $1,500 Support Unlock $5,100? Coinpedia: Ethereum Price Prediction 2026, 2027 – 2030
After remaining untouched for nearly eight years, four Ethereum wallets have suddenly reactivated and executed large-scale sales. On-chain data reveals that these wallets collectively offloaded 33,623 ETH within just four hours, at an average price of $1,560 per ETH.
Wallets awakened after years of inactivityThese four wallets originally accumulated a total of 37,602 ETH in 2018, buying in at an average price of around $830 per token. In the latest transactions, most of these holdings were transferred to exchanges and sold off. According to available information, the total proceeds from the sales reached $52.5 million.
Mini glossary: Lookonchain is an on-chain analytics account that tracks blockchain transfers and large wallet movements. Arkham is a blockchain data platform renowned for tracing wallet activity and associating addresses.
Movements tracked by Lookonchain and cross-checked with Arkham data point to a realized profit of approximately $27.4 million based on entry costs. The article shares the wallet addresses involved and notes that these remained largely dormant since their initial accumulation period.
In its post, Lookonchain highlighted that the ETH had been held for eight years before finally being sold, yet even after all that time, the wallets did not benefit from previous, higher market valuations.
While these sales demonstrate that long-term investors can still lock in gains despite weakened market conditions, the profits remain limited compared to what could have been achieved during peak market rallies.
Profits fall short of all-time highsData shows that on paper, these wallets’ holdings once exceeded $150 million during past bull cycles. However, the owners did not sell during the major surges of 2021 and 2025, passing on peak exit opportunities.
Ethereum reached its all-time high of about $4,946 in August 2025. At that level, the wallets in question were worth exponentially more than the recent selling prices. Instead, the most recent sales occurred with ETH trading around $1,560.
ItemDataInitial amount purchased37,602 ETHAverage entry price$830Amount sold33,623 ETHAverage selling price$1,560Total proceeds$52.5 millionRealized profit$27.4 millionAnalysts point out that the divergence between potential peak value and realized profit exposes missed opportunities during past booms. The rapid completion of these recent sales also underscores a trend of long-term Ethereum holders now liquidating some of their positions.
Available data show that these wallets, after years of dormancy, executed sizable sales in a brief period. This pattern resembles recent behavior among other long-standing Ethereum holders.
Similar moves witnessed beforeThis string of transactions marks the latest example of early Ethereum investors reducing their holdings after years on the sidelines. In March, another early adopter sold roughly $31 million worth of Ethereum.
April likewise saw an ICO participant transfer 10,000 ETH, valued at approximately $23 million, after years of inactivity. With these latest moves, the reactivation of previously idle wallets is under close watch by market observers.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Ethereum runs as a global, decentralised computer in which every full node stores the network’s complete state, including account balances, smart contract code, contract storage, and everything else needed to verify the chain’s current condition. That design maximises security and verifiability, but it carries a structural cost, because the state only grows.
Transaction history can be pruned or archived, yet the active state has to stay immediately accessible for block validation and execution. Every new wave of DeFi positions, NFTs, gaming contracts, and other on-chain activity adds to a working set that nodes must keep on hand indefinitely. Heavier state means steeper hardware requirements for node operators, and steeper requirements quietly push the network toward fewer, larger, better-resourced participants. State expiry has become one of Ethereum’s most discussed long-term scaling ideas because it attacks that growth directly while trying to preserve the chain’s security guarantees and everyday usability.
Key Takeaways Ethereum’s active state grows without limit because every node must store all accounts and contract storage, unlike prunable transaction history. The root problem is economic: users pay once to write data, but nodes store it forever, raising hardware costs and straining decentralisation. State expiry retires long-untouched data from the active state without deleting it, leaving it recoverable through a cryptographic proof. A leaner state means faster syncs, cheaper nodes, and a lower barrier to participation. It is still research-stage and tied to the move toward stateless clients and binary state trees, which replaced the earlier Verkle tree plan. Ethereum’s State Bloat Is an Economic Mismatch, Not Just a Storage Limit The active state is made up of every account and contract storage slot that nodes must maintain, and once a contract writes data on-chain that data stays in the working set indefinitely unless something explicitly removes it.
Underneath the storage question sits a pricing mismatch. Users pay a one-time gas fee to write data, while node operators carry the cost of storing and serving it for as long as the network exists. The chain therefore accumulates state that may never be touched again but still consumes memory, disk, and bandwidth on every node.
The consequences reach well past raw storage, because a larger state lengthens sync times for new nodes, strains hardware, and raises the price of running validating infrastructure. If that price keeps climbing, the pool of people able to run a node shrinks toward a handful of infrastructure providers. Ethereum’s developers treat this as a long-term priority, folding state work into the network’s 2026 upgrade roadmap. Rollups, for all their impact on fees and throughput, do nothing to slow this. They scale execution but do not shrink the base-layer state that every node still has to hold.
State Expiry Archives Inactive Ethereum Data State expiry starts from a single premise, that data left untouched for long enough does not need to sit in the active working set every node keeps ready for immediate execution. Under such a scheme, accounts and contract storage that have not been accessed within a defined window, often discussed as roughly a year, would be marked expired and dropped from the active state that validators and full nodes maintain.
Expiry is not deletion, and that distinction is the whole point. The data still exists in Ethereum’s history and in archival or distributed storage, so responsibility for holding rarely used state shifts off every node and onto archival nodes, dedicated providers, or networks such as the Portal Network, the same goal driving Ethereum’s push toward stateless verification.
Reviving expired state would mean supplying a cryptographic proof, known as a witness, that demonstrates the account or contract’s prior condition, after which it can be restored for use. The leading designs lean on periodic state trees, where a fresh tree is created each period, alongside changes such as extending address formats so the protocol can track which period an address belongs to. The cleanest mental model is an archive folder, where files you rarely open move out of active memory but stay retrievable, keeping the system light without losing anything permanently.
A Smaller Active State Lowers the Hardware Bar The central benefit is a sustainable storage model in place of open-ended growth, with practical ceilings on how much active data a node must carry. Early proposals from Vitalik Buterin floated trimming the state every node holds to a flat range in the tens of gigabytes instead of letting it climb without limit.
A leaner active state improves node operation across the board, because new nodes sync faster, validators need less storage, and the barrier to running a node drops. Ethereum is pitching that lower barrier to institutional node operatorswho want to verify the chain on standard hardware.
State expiry also realigns cost with consumption, since anyone who wants data to stay instantly available may eventually have to renew or maintain it instead of paying once and relying on the network forever. It complements the rest of Ethereum’s scaling work, where rollups, data availability sampling, and statelessness target throughput and verification while state expiry addresses the storage layer those upgrades leave untouched.
State Expiry’s Hardest Problems The benefits come with real friction, starting with user experience, because developers and users expect accounts and contracts to be reachable at any moment, so any revival step adds complexity to wallets and applications that have never had to account for it.
Proof generation and verification raise a second hurdle, because restoring expired state securely depends on efficient cryptographic proofs and reliable access to historical data, which in turn demands mature infrastructure and careful protocol design. Backwards compatibility may be the thorniest issue, as millions of existing contracts were written on the assumption of permanent, instant availability, and introducing expiry without breaking them is a heavy engineering and coordination task.
Even the basic parameters remain unsettled, since too short an expiry window inconveniences users while too long blunts the benefit, and researchers are still testing where the line should sit. Buterin himself has pushed back on the most aggressive version of the idea, arguing against enforcing state expiry at the consensus layer on the grounds that hard protocol-level changes could introduce security and cross-application risks. He has pointed instead toward lighter options such as optional partial nodes that reduce storage without forcing expiry on the whole network.
The proposal also has to slot into the rest of the roadmap, particularly the move toward stateless clients, and that target has shifted. Verkle trees were for years the planned replacement for Ethereum’s current state structure, prized for the small witnesses they produce, but concerns that their elliptic-curve cryptography is vulnerable to quantum computers pushed them out of favour from mid-2024. Ethereum’s current direction, set out in the Foundation’s 2026 protocol priorities, points toward a binary Merkle state tree paired with STARK-friendly hash functions such as Blake3 or Poseidon, which aim to deliver the same compact proofs on a more future-proof foundation.
Why State Expiry Still Matters for Ethereum’s Long-Term Scalability State expiry remains a research-stage proposal, with the Ethereum Foundation grouping it alongside history expiry and statelessness as work expected to land years out, not in the next upgrade. What keeps it on the agenda is that it addresses a problem the transaction-scaling stack cannot reach. As Ethereum settles more value and hosts more applications, the size of the active state bears directly on whether running a node stays accessible, which in turn bears on how decentralised the network remains.
Paired with statelessness and the shift to binary state trees, state expiry is one piece of a broader effort to keep Ethereum verifiable on modest hardware as it grows. Whether it ships in mandatory form, in optional form, or is partly superseded by alternatives such as optional partial nodes remains an open question among the network’s developers.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What is Ethereum state expiry?
It removes accounts and contract storage untouched for a set period from the active state, cutting what every node must store. It deletes nothing.
Does state expiry delete my tokens or contracts?
No. Expired data stays recoverable from archival storage and can be revived with a cryptographic proof of its prior state.
How would I access an expired account?
You submit a witness, a proof of the account’s prior condition, and the protocol restores it. Block explorers and providers are expected to help generate these proofs.
Is state expiry live on Ethereum yet?
No. It is still in research, grouped with history expiry and statelessness, and is not part of the 2026 Glamsterdam or Hegota upgrades.
How does it relate to statelessness and Verkle trees?
State expiry shrinks the active state; statelessness lets nodes verify blocks without storing it. Verkle trees were the planned tool for small proofs, but quantum concerns shifted Ethereum to a binary Merkle tree with STARK-friendly hashing.
Ethereum treasury company SharpLink has resumed accumulating Ether after an eight-month hiatus, adding 5,000 ETH to its balance sheet as the cryptocurrency trades near its lowest level of 2026. The purchase reinforces the company’s long-term conviction in Ethereum despite sitting on billions of dollars in unrealized losses and a prolonged market downturn.
Blockchain intelligence platform Arkham first flagged the transaction, while on-chain analysts, including EmberCN and Lookonchain, reported that SharpLink received 5,000 ETH worth approximately $7.85 million from digital asset prime broker FalconX. The transfer marks its first Ether acquisition since October 2025, ending an eight-month pause in active accumulation.
After 8 months, SharpLink(@Sharplink) is buying $ETH again!
6 hours ago, #SharpLink received 5,000 $ETH($7.85M) from #FalconX.#SharpLink now holds 876,285 $ETH(1.4B), including 22,102 ETH earned from staking.
Its average purchase price is ~$3,609, and now sitting on an… pic.twitter.com/mr6gQxjNua
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) June 26, 2026
SharpLink Is Buying Again Despite Heavy Paper Losses The latest ETH purchase increases SharpLink’s treasury to 876,285 ETH, cementing its position as the second-largest publicly traded corporate holder of Ethereum, behind BitMine Immersion. The balance includes more than 22,000 ETH earned through staking rewards, highlighting that the company continued generating yield even while it paused new purchases.
The renewed buying comes at a challenging time for Ethereum. The second-largest cryptocurrency briefly fell to around $1,537, its lowest price of the year, and has declined roughly 25% over the past month, underperforming Bitcoin during the same period.
Based on current market prices, SharpLink’s average acquisition cost of approximately $3,609 per ETH leaves the company with an estimated $1.7–1.8 billion in unrealized losses.
Yet the company appears to be treating lower prices as an accumulation opportunity rather than a reason to scale back exposure.
Corporate Conviction in Ethereum Remains Intact Another reason the purchase is significant is that it suggests institutional appetite for Ethereum has not disappeared despite weak price performance.
Commenting on the transaction, Andri Fauzan Adziima, Research Lead at Bitrue Research Institute, told Cointelegraph:
“I’m seeing genuine corporate accumulation conviction holding strong amid subdued price action.” The purchase also aligns with comments previously made by SharpLink CEO Joseph Chalom, who identified three catalysts that could improve Ethereum’s outlook over the medium term: passage of the CLARITY Act in the United States, a broader return in market risk appetite as geopolitical tensions ease, and continued growth in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
While those catalysts have yet to fully materialize, SharpLink’s decision to resume buying suggests management remains confident in Ethereum’s long-term investment case.
The company has increasingly positioned itself as an Ethereum treasury business rather than a traditional gaming affiliate platform. Since pivoting toward a crypto treasury strategy, SharpLink has focused on accumulating ETH, staking its holdings for additional yield, and supporting broader Ethereum ecosystem initiatives.
Earlier this month, the company also backed the launch of EthLabs, a nonprofit founded by former Ethereum Foundation researchers to accelerate institutional adoption of the Ethereum network.
These moves are part of a wider trend of publicly listed companies adopting digital asset treasury strategies. Whether that conviction proves well-timed will depend on Ethereum’s ability to recover in the coming months.
Latest developments: Trent Van Epps says Ethereum's long-term decentralization strategy is entering a critical transition phase.
Van Epps said he left the Ethereum Foundation after it became clear the organization would accelerate its "subtraction" philosophy of pushing authority and legitimacy into the broader ecosystem.He described the Ethereum Foundation as intentionally reducing its central role rather than consolidating power, arguing that multiple independent institutions should eventually coordinate the ecosystem.The comments come after recent Ethereum Foundation leadership changes and workforce reductions, which have fueled questions about Ethereum's future governance.Van Epps joined CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie on Markets Outlook.What this means: Van Epps argues Ethereum faces a practical funding challenge rather than an existential crisis.
He estimated core protocol development requires roughly $30 million annually, even as the Ethereum Foundation's treasury gradually declines over time.According to Van Epps, the issue is not shrinking technical needs but identifying new organizations willing to finance public goods that keep the network reliable and secure.He said his Protocol Guild initiative has distributed nearly $40 million to Ethereum core developers over roughly four years but is not sufficient on its own to replace broader ecosystem funding.Reading between the lines: Van Epps remains bullish on Ethereum despite the funding concerns.
He argued Ethereum continues to lead in decentralized finance, stablecoin settlement and EVM adoption, saying those network effects remain difficult for competitors to match.While acknowledging near-term coordination challenges, he said he is optimistic new institutions and major stakeholders will emerge to help finance Ethereum's shared infrastructure.He also pointed to the "free rider" problem, where firms benefit from shared infrastructure without contributing to its maintenance, as a key obstacle to solving the funding gap.What comes next: Van Epps believes Ethereum's governance will become more distributed over the next decade.
He expects the Ethereum Foundation to continue operating in a narrower role alongside newer organizations focused on research, commercialization and ecosystem growth.He argued Ethereum also needs stronger advocacy around ETH as an asset and a clearer narrative connecting the token to the network's expanding on-chain economy.Long term, Van Epps said success should be measured by broad adoption, with billions of users ultimately accessing Ethereum and its Layer 2 ecosystem.AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
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Equities on Crypto Rails: A Platform Comparison
Equities on Crypto Rails: A Platform Comparison
US equities on crypto rails: access is easy, on-chain composability is the real test. Only Binance and Backpack deliver both - and only Binance at scale.
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US equities on crypto rails: access is easy, on-chain composability is the real test. Only Binance and Backpack deliver both - and only Binance at scale.
Why it matters:
US equities on crypto rails: access is easy, on-chain composability is the real test. Only Binance and Backpack deliver both - and only Binance at scale.
Canton Network, the privacy-enabled institutional blockchain built by Digital Asset, generated $60.2 million in fees over the trailing 30 days, outpacing Tron's $27.6 million and Ethereum's $11.3 million by a wide margin, according to DefiLlama data.
Canton Network, the privacy-enabled institutional blockchain built by Digital Asset, generated $60.2 million in fees over the trailing 30 days, placing it ahead of Tron and far above Ethereum by that measure, according to DefiLlama data.
The DefiLlama fee-tracking dashboard logs Canton's 30-day total at $60.2 million, compared with $27.6 million for Tron and $11.3 million for Ethereum over the same window. Digital Asset co-founder and CEO Yuval Rooz noted the milestone on X earlier this month: "$CC today processes the highest fees of any institutional blockchain network."
Trailing 30-day fees as of June 26, 2026: Canton $60.2M, Tron $27.6M, Ethereum $11.3M. Source: DefiLlama. Methodology: gas fees paid by users.Fee MethodologyDefiLlama tracks Canton fees as gas paid by network participants, a methodology consistent with how it measures fees on Ethereum and Tron. Canton is a permissioned, privacy-preserving network used primarily by financial institutions for settlement and asset tokenization. Transaction volumes there trace to institutional workflows rather than retail DeFi activity, which shapes how the fee comparison reads.
Canton's 30-day fee figure places it fourth overall on the DefiLlama leaderboard among all protocols, behind Tether, Circle's USDC, and Hyperliquid's perpetual exchange. Its all-time cumulative fees reached $488.9 million. The trailing 24-hour figure stood at $1.84 million at time of publication.
Institutional BackdropThe numbers follow significant capital formation around Digital Asset. The company closed a $355 million funding round led by a16z crypto in June, with HSBC, Apollo, BNP Paribas, CME, Tradeweb and more than 20 other institutional names joining. Visa and stablecoin issuer Brale piloted stablecoin settlement on the network using SBC, a US dollar-backed stablecoin. South Korea's Bithumb listed Canton Coin in its KRW market on June 23.
Canton is among the eight blockchains integrated into Mastercard's card-settlement network, per earlier Defiant coverage. The Canton Foundation was also registered under the National Cooperative Research and Production Act on June 22.
Ethereum GapEthereum's fees have stayed compressed since the Dencun upgrade reduced Layer 2 settlement costs. Over the trailing 30-day window, Canton's $60.2 million compares with Ethereum's $11.3 million, a ratio of more than five to one. The contrast reflects how differently the two networks generate fee activity: Canton's throughput comes from institutional settlement workflows with fixed participants, while Ethereum's comes from a broader but currently less fee-intensive base of applications.
Canton has made no public statement on when or whether the fee ranking will be updated or reported as a recurring metric.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, trading as BMNR on the NYSE, has met the eligibility criteria for inclusion in the Russell 1000 Index. The addition is expected to take effect on June 26, 2026, following a preliminary list publication in May 2026.
What Bitmine actually is, and why the Russell 1000 matters The company holds approximately 5.67 million ETH, which represents roughly 4.7% of the total Ethereum supply. Combined with cash and other assets, its total holdings clock in at approximately $10.7 billion.
The Russell 1000 Index tracks the largest 1,000 US-listed companies by market capitalization. It serves as a benchmark for large-cap investing, and more importantly, it’s the reference index for a massive ecosystem of passive funds, ETFs, and institutional portfolios that automatically buy whatever the index tells them to buy.
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Chairman Tom Lee indicated that the resulting inflows from index trackers could reach into the billions.
The Ethereum thesis, wrapped in a stock ticker BMNR co-founded Ethlabs, a collaborative initiative designed to accelerate Ethereum’s institutional adoption. The effort reportedly involves notable figures from the Ethereum ecosystem, including Joe Lubin.
The company’s investor roster includes ARK Invest, Founders Fund, and Pantera Capital.
The stock trades with high liquidity, reportedly seeing hundreds of millions in daily volume.
What this means for investors When passive funds buy BMNR shares, they’re indirectly gaining exposure to 5.67 million ETH. That means pension funds, 401(k) plans, and retirement accounts benchmarked to the Russell 1000 will, whether they realize it or not, suddenly have a slice of their portfolio tied to the price of Ethereum.
When MSTR entered the Nasdaq 100 in late 2024, it triggered a wave of passive buying that helped stabilize the stock’s premium to its underlying Bitcoin holdings.
The preliminary list drops in May 2026, which gives institutional investors about a month to position ahead of the June 26 effective date.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Ethereum (ETH) trades below $1,600 on Friday following sustained risk-off sentiment across the crypto market. The top altcoin has declined by 6.7% on the weekly timeframe, stretching its 30-day loss to 23.5%.
Despite sustained negative sentiment across the market, bearish positioning in Ethereum derivatives has eased over the past three weeks, following ETH's sharp decline from above $2,000 to near $1,560 at the time of writing.
The move is evident in the Ethereum Net Taker Volume, which has gradually contracted from negative territory over the period. The metric measures the difference in trading volume between buyers and sellers in perpetual futures using market orders.
The recent contraction indicates that pressure from short traders has reduced after a majority of their positions became profitable following the decline.
ETH Net Taker Volume. Source: CryptoQuantETH futures also appear to have undergone a partial reset after the Estimated Leverage Ratio (ELR) fell from 1.11 to 0.85 in the past three weeks. ELR indicates the amount of leverage employed in a cryptocurrency by comparing its open interest to exchange reserves.
The sharp drop in ETH's ELR shows that a large number of leveraged positions have been wiped out, potentially stabilizing the market and reducing leverage risk.
ETH Estimated Leverage Ratio. Source: CryptoQuantWhile leverage has fallen alongside contracting bearish positioning, ETH derivatives remain modestly tilted to the downside as funding rates continue to flash negative, especially after further price declines over the past few days.
Meanwhile, institutional appeal has remained subdued following six consecutive days of net outflows in US spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to SoSoValue data. The products are on track to record seven straight weeks of outflows and their largest weekly decline since January.
A key price level investors continue to watch is the Realized Price Lower Band, which has served as a bottom indicator in the past two bear market cycles. The metric suggests ETH could drop by nearly 30% before forming a bottom.
Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH falters before descending trendline resistanceOn the weekly chart, ETH is maintaining a bearish near-term bias as it remains below key Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). The 7-week EMA around $1,817 and the 20-week EMA near $2,118 sit well overhead, reinforcing a downside tone alongside the longer-term 50-week EMA at roughly $2,525.
Momentum indicators are deeply oversold, with the 14-week Relative Strength Index (RSI) at around 30 and the Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) below 10, suggesting that while sellers remain in control, the pace of the decline may be nearing exhaustion.
ETH tested the $1,524 support level this week after seeing a rejection at the convergence of a descending trendline resistance and the $1,741 level.
On the topside, initial resistance remains at the descending trendline, followed by clustered barriers at $1,741, $1,806 and the 7-week EMA. Above these, further hurdles are at $1,909 and $2,019, before the horizontal levels at $2,108 and $2,211.
ETH/USDT weekly chartOn the downside, immediate support emerges at $1,524, ahead of a secondary floor at $1,404. A deeper slide would expose the more significant base near $1,156.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
Trent Van Epps, who previously held key positions within the Ethereum ecosystem, has stated that the network is now entering a pivotal transition in its long-term decentralization strategy. According to Van Epps, the focus of debate is shifting away from Ethereum’s very existence and toward the challenge of financing shared public infrastructure into the future.
Foundation narrows its roleExplaining his decision to step down from the Ethereum Foundation, Van Epps pointed to the organization’s growing intent to distribute authority and legitimacy throughout the broader ecosystem. Rather than accumulating power, the Foundation is deliberately scaling back its central role, with the ultimate objective of enabling multiple independent institutions to coordinate the network’s development together.
The Ethereum Foundation is widely recognized as a non-profit entity playing a vital part in the research, development, and support of the Ethereum ecosystem. However, recent leadership changes and workforce reductions have fueled fresh questions over the platform’s future governance model.
In Van Epps’s analysis, the central challenge facing Ethereum is not an existential crisis, but rather finding new institutions capable of financing critical public-good infrastructure.
Annual need for $30 million in core developmentVan Epps emphasized that annual core protocol development requires funding of around $30 million. He noted that the Ethereum Foundation’s treasury is gradually shrinking over time, drawing attention away from technical demands themselves and toward the necessity for new institutional frameworks that can address these ongoing needs.
Van Epps highlighted the Protocol Guild initiative, which has distributed approximately $40 million to Ethereum core developers over the last four years. Still, he argued that this funding model alone cannot satisfy the ecosystem’s broader financing requirements.
Mini Glossary: Protocol Guild is a funding initiative designed to provide long-term support for developers contributing to Ethereum’s core protocol. Public-good funding refers to the support of shared infrastructure critical for the network’s security and continuity, which may not generate direct revenue.
ItemDataAnnual core development need$30 millionProtocol Guild distribution$40 million over 4 yearsCompetitive edge and the free-rider problemDespite ongoing funding debates, Van Epps remains optimistic about Ethereum’s prospects. He maintains that the network continues to lead in decentralized finance, stablecoin settlement, and EVM adoption, arguing these network effects cannot be easily replicated by competitors.
Nonetheless, he cautions that coordination challenges may persist in the near term. Van Epps believes, however, that the involvement of new organizations and major stakeholders could help sustain the financing of shared infrastructure. He identifies the free-rider issue as a key hurdle—where companies benefit from public infrastructure without contributing to its maintenance and development costs.
Van Epps anticipates that Ethereum’s governance will become increasingly distributed over the next decade, with the Foundation occupying a more limited role alongside new organizations focused on research, commercialization, and ecosystem growth.
Distributed governance may define the years aheadVan Epps also underlines the importance of stronger advocacy for the ETH asset and calls for a clearer framework that links token usage with the expansion of the network’s on-chain economy. He argues that, in the long run, true success should be measured by widespread adoption, foreseeing a future where billions of users could gain access to Ethereum and its layer-2 ecosystem.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Bitcoin trades around $60,000 as analysts remain divided on whether a durable market bottom has formed.
Notable Statistics:
Coinglass data shows 90,825 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $484.09 million. SoSoValue data shows net outflows of $696.3 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $81.9 million. In the past 24 hours, top gainers include Jito, SKYAI and Aave. Notable Developments:
Trader Notes:
Scott Melker noted Bitcoin is at a critical technical juncture. If BTC closes the day at current levels or higher, it would confirm a strong bullish RSI divergence on the daily chart after reaching oversold conditions.
The analyst said Bitcoin has already printed a bullish divergence on the weekly RSI, only the second such occurrence ever.
Walter Bloomberg explained Bitcoin may not have reached its cycle low yet. Despite more than $1.3 trillion being wiped from the market, many expect the final bottom to form in the $50,000–$53,000 range, with the bear market potentially extending into September.
He predicts that the strongest buying opportunities typically emerge after forced selling and panic-driven liquidations subside, rather than during the height of market fear.
Ted Pillows argues Bitcoin has not yet seen the type of capitulation that marked previous cycle bottoms. The analyst notes BTC fell 87% in 2015, 84% in 2018 and 78% in 2022, suggesting the current expectation of a bottom after only a roughly 50% decline may be premature.
Based on those historical drawdowns, Ted expects Bitcoin to decline at least 60%–65% from its cycle peak before establishing a final market bottom.
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Tether’s stablecoin USDT has surpassed Ethereum for the first time in a key valuation metric. According to CoinGecko data, USDT’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) rose to $191.5 billion, edging past Ethereum’s FDV of $187.5 billion, after a 5.5% drop in Ethereum’s price over the last 24 hours.
New FDV rankingsThis shift occurred in the ranking of FDV—a metric that reflects the value of a crypto asset if its total possible supply were already circulating. Bitcoin continues to hold the top spot by FDV, while USDT now occupies second place and Ethereum has slipped to third. By traditional market capitalization, which is based only on circulating supply, Ethereum still ranks above USDT.
FDV, or fully diluted valuation, is a metric calculated by multiplying an asset’s current price by its maximum possible supply. Therefore, this change in rankings doesn’t necessarily indicate structural dominance but rather highlights differences between how assets are valued under this particular metric.
Mini glossary: FDV means fully diluted valuation. It shows the total value assuming all tokens are circulating, and usually differs from the current market capitalization.
CoinGecko data indicates that USDT has climbed to second place in fully diluted valuation, after Bitcoin, while Ethereum’s recent price decline has pushed it down in this ranking.
Issuance increases, price pressure shifts the balanceUSDT’s rise in FDV has been driven by Tether’s continued issuance to meet growing demand for dollar liquidity. As Tether has incrementally minted new tokens, USDT’s FDV has grown, while downward price pressure has weighed on Ethereum’s valuation in this metric.
Analysts quoted in the report suggest this trend illustrates the increasing weight of stablecoins within the overall crypto market structure. The expansion of institutional use and a tendency for investors to seek defensive assets during periods of volatility have both contributed to the rising influence of dollar-pegged tokens like USDT.
A wake-up call for the Ethereum ecosystemThis development is especially significant for Ethereum developers, layer 2 teams, and decentralized finance protocols. Much of the transaction volume and treasury activity across the Ethereum ecosystem depends on stablecoin flows, underlining growing reliance on these assets.
Regulators, meanwhile, continue to scrutinize the issuance practices and reserve attestations of stablecoin providers. As a result, future changes in USDT supply, continued transparency regarding reserves, and the growth trajectory of Ethereum’s layer 2 platforms are expected to remain focal points for market observers.
Market experts also note that any sustained recovery in Ethereum’s price could once again alter the FDV rankings. Nonetheless, USDT’s current lead highlights just how prominent stablecoins have become in shaping the structure of the crypto market as a whole.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Tether briefly overtook Ethereum by market capitalization on June 26, according to the validated discovery pack, as ETH sold off into the $1,500 to $1,600 range and stablecoin supply remained comparatively steady. The crossover was temporary, but the symbolism was hard to ignore: during one of the market’s sharpest risk-off sessions, crypto’s largest stablecoin briefly moved ahead of Ethereum.
TL;DR Tether briefly flipped Ethereum by market capitalization during the June 26 sell-off. USDT’s market cap was cited around $186.06 billion, while ETH fell near $185.66 billion during the intraday crossover. Ethereum later recovered above the level, so the flip should not be framed as permanent. The move highlights how stablecoin dominance can rise when investors reduce risk exposure. A Temporary Flip, But A Loud Signal The validated figures showed Tether’s market capitalization reaching roughly $186.06 billion while Ethereum’s market value fell to around $185.66 billion during the brief crossover. Ethereum later recovered above the mark, meaning the event should be treated as an intraday milestone rather than a permanent reshuffling of the crypto rankings.
Still, the moment was notable because Ethereum has long held the second-largest market capitalization in crypto behind Bitcoin. Stablecoins are not typically viewed in the same way as productive or programmable blockchain networks, but in market capitalization tables they compete for the same ranking space. When USDT briefly moved ahead, it reflected both Ethereum’s drawdown and the scale of stablecoin liquidity sitting on the sidelines.
Why Stablecoin Dominance Matters Stablecoin market capitalization tends to be watched as a proxy for liquidity inside the digital asset ecosystem. A rising stablecoin supply can suggest that capital remains within crypto rails, even if it is not actively allocated to volatile assets. During sell-offs, traders often move into USDT or other stablecoins to reduce exposure without fully exiting exchanges or on-chain environments.
That is why the Tether-Ethereum crossover is best understood as a risk-aversion signal. It does not mean Ethereum’s long-term role has changed, nor does it mean the market has permanently favored stablecoins over smart-contract networks. But it does show how quickly rankings can shift when a major asset sells off and the market’s defensive liquidity base remains large.
Ethereum’s Weakness Meets USDT’s Scale Ethereum’s market capitalization is highly sensitive to spot price because ETH trades freely and can move sharply during high-volatility sessions. Tether’s market capitalization, by contrast, largely reflects circulating supply. That makes USDT less volatile in market-cap terms, especially during a session when traders are seeking shelter rather than chasing risk.
The brief flip therefore says as much about Ethereum’s price decline as it does about Tether’s scale. ETH moving into the $1,500 to $1,600 region placed its total valuation close enough for USDT to pass it, even if only briefly. For traders, the crossover offered a simple visual snapshot of the day’s market mood: defensive assets were holding their ground while major altcoins were being repriced.
What Comes Next The key question is whether Ethereum can quickly rebuild distance above Tether in the rankings. A strong ETH rebound would likely turn the event into a short-lived curiosity. A prolonged period of weak ETH price action, however, could keep stablecoin dominance in focus and raise more questions about capital rotation within crypto.
For now, the safer framing is that Tether’s brief move above Ethereum was a symbolic market stress signal, not a permanent change in crypto’s hierarchy. It showed that stablecoin liquidity remains enormous, and that in sharp sell-offs, even Ethereum’s long-held second-place position can temporarily come under pressure.
This report is based on information from The Currency Analytics.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Ondo Finance has enabled around-the-clock minting and redemption for tokenized US stocks and ETFs on Ethereum and BNB Chain, removing the weekday-only constraint that had tied position creation and cancellation to US market hours.
Ondo Finance has enabled around-the-clock minting and redemption for tokenized US stocks and ETFs on Ethereum and BNB Chain, removing the prior weekday-only constraint that had tied the creation and cancellation of positions to US market hours. The upgrade, announced by Ondo Finance on Wednesday, applies initially to six of the platform's most actively traded instruments: SPYon, QQQon, CRCLon, NVDAon, TSLAon, and GOOGLon.
Additional tokenized stocks and ETFs will be added in coming weeks, with Solana support coming next. Ondo described the feature as a first for the sector, noting that rivals offering "24/7 trading" have confined continuous access to secondary-market transfers on centralized and decentralized exchanges, while issuance and redemption remained tied to market hours.
Why It Changes ThingsTransfers of Ondo's tokenized securities have always been available at any hour, letting holders move, lend, or use assets in DeFi protocols regardless of whether US markets are open. What was missing was the ability to create new positions or exit them directly on weekends and holidays. The new feature closes that gap, giving institutional and qualified investors a full lifecycle for tokenized equities on blockchain infrastructure that never closes.
Ondo Global Markets, which now lists more than 430 tokenized stocks and ETFs across Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain, became the first tokenized-stock platform to surpass $1 billion in total value locked, exceeding the combined TVL of competing platforms, the company said.
Broader RWA ContextThe launch comes as the tokenized real-world asset sector has broadened rapidly. Earlier this month, Ondo added 173 stocks and ETFs to its catalog, pushing the platform past 430 assets on three chains. Rival approaches to continuous equity access have varied: Binance launched bStocks on BNB Chain in June, while Coinbase has outlined plans for 1:1-backed tokenized US stocks with on-chain dividends.
Ondo noted that AI agents on the Virtuals protocol can now access the 24/7 minting and redemption feature, extending programmable round-the-clock equity exposure to automated strategies. The Solana rollout of the feature is expected in the near future.
However, the artificial intelligence-linked assets look increasingly stretched.
“Layer-1s Are Still The Place To Be“In a "Drinks With Raoul Pal" episode on June 26, Pal acknowledged that crypto markets have been painful for investors, saying the asset class has not been "the gift that keeps on giving" over the past year.
Still, Pal said he remains heavily allocated to crypto and continues to believe that major layer-1 networks are the core opportunity.
"I strongly believe in my thesis that the layer ones are still the place to be," Pal said, naming ETH, SOL and SUI among the assets he continues to watch closely.
Pal argued that blockchain infrastructure remains central to the next phase of the internet, particularly as AI agents require payment rails, identity, privacy and coordination layers.
Liquidity Is Turning Positive Pal contrasted crypto’s weakness with the sharp rally in semiconductor and AI-related stocks, saying parts of the AI trade now look heavily overextended.
He said semiconductors are trading nearly four standard deviations above their long-term trend, making it difficult for them to remain the market’s next leadership group.
By comparison, Pal said Ethereum and Sui appear far more attractive on a relative basis, with ETH near the bottom of a long consolidation range and SUI trading well below its trend channel.
Pal also pointed to global liquidity as the underlying driver of financial assets, arguing that liquidity remains in an uptrend even though the crypto market has not yet fully responded.
He said excess liquidity is beginning to turn positive again, which could eventually support risk assets beyond the current AI winners.
“Great Rotation” To ComePal said he expects a “great rotation” across markets, with leadership potentially shifting away from the most crowded AI trades and toward assets that have lagged, including crypto layer-1s.
He warned investors not to confuse short-term pain with a broken thesis, arguing that the most important investing gains usually come from compounding through long-term secular trends rather than trading every market swing.
Pal added that investors need a framework, a thesis and the discipline not to panic during drawdowns.
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Institutional demand for cryptocurrency ETFs weakened sharply this week as investors pulled billions of dollars from products tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The latest wave of redemptions coincided with Bitcoin falling below $60,000, marking one of the most challenging periods for crypto investment products since the launch of spot ETFs in the United States.
US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest daily net outflow in June on Thursday, while Solana ETFs are headed toward their first monthly net outflows on record. Across the broader market, crypto ETFs have collectively lost approximately $5 billion over the past 30 days, highlighting a widespread shift in investor sentiment.
Bitcoin ETFs post June's biggest outflow According to SoSoValue data, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $696.29 million on Thursday, surpassing the previous monthly high of $519.2 million recorded on June 2. The latest withdrawals extended Bitcoin ETF outflows to 6 consecutive trading days.
June has now recorded total net Bitcoin ETF outflows of $3.61 billion, while year-to-date net outflows have reached $4.56 billion. Since the beginning of May, investors have withdrawn approximately $6.04 billion from spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The selling pressure also appeared concentrated among the industry's largest funds. Fidelity's FBTC recorded $274 million in net outflows on Thursday, while BlackRock's IBIT lost another $265 million. The previous trading session on June 24 had already seen another $469.08 million leave US spot Bitcoin ETFs. The outflows have significantly reduced the size of the US Bitcoin ETF market.
SoSoValue data shows that total net assets across US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs have fallen below $73 billion for the first time since late 2024. Combined assets now stand at approximately $72.57 billion. The decline represents a substantial drop from the sector's peak of $169.5 billion reached in October 2025, leaving total assets approximately 57% below their record highs.
More recently, total Bitcoin ETF assets have fallen from $104.29 billion on May 15 to $72.57 billion, extending a 7-week decline. Bitcoin ETF assets now represent 6.09% of Bitcoin's circulating market capitalization, down from more than 7% during the May peak.
Solana ETFs Record Their Worst-Performing Month Solana investment products also experienced notable weakness. June is on track to become the worst month on record for US spot Solana ETFs, with the category posting its first monthly net outflows. Net redemptions currently total $5.80 million for the month. On Thursday alone, Solana ETFs lost $3.94 million, with all of the outflows coming from Bitwise's $BSOL fund.
Ethereum products also joined the broader selling trend. Spot Ether ETFs recorded combined net outflows of $81.87 million, with BlackRock's $ETHA accounting for $62.99 million of the withdrawals. XRP ETFs remained flat during Thursday's session, recording neither net inflows nor net outflows.
While other Hyperliquid-related investment products experienced withdrawals, Grayscale's $HYPG fund stood out as the sole major crypto ETF to record net inflows, drawing in $112.73 million. This positive momentum was primarily the result of Hyper Holdings providing the fund with seed capital in the form of 2 million $HYPE tokens.
Bitcoin falls below $60,000 The ETF selling coincided with another sharp decline in cryptocurrency prices. Yesterday, Bitcoin briefly fell to $58,050, its lowest level since October 2024, before recovering to around $60,000. The recent market weakness has been linked to concerns surrounding Strategy and its $STRC preferred shares, which declined further to a new all-time low of $72 earlier today.
Solana also came under heavy pressure during the broader market sell-off, briefly dropping to $64 before leading the recovery among majors with an over 10 % rise in the last 24 hours.
Will The Sentiment Remained Subdued? Market observers continue to view ETF flows as an important measure of institutional demand. Citi has previously described Bitcoin ETF flows as one of the best indicators of investor adoption and expects sentiment to remain subdued while ETF flows stay negative.
In a recent report, CoinShares noted that Bitcoin's recovery from approximately $58,000 indicates continued buying interest during market declines, although resistance around $60,000 remains significant. The firm also observed that whale selling, which contributed heavily to the October market decline, has slowed considerably. However, the firm cautioned that whales historically do not return as consistent buyers until the next Bitcoin halving cycle, which is expected in 2028.
Looking ahead, CoinShares expects market conditions to remain challenging as inflation concerns, elevated oil prices, and a hawkish Federal Reserve continue to weigh on risk assets. The firm also believes delays in passing the CLARITY Act could extend uncertainty about the US regulatory environment, with the legislation now more likely to advance toward the August congressional recess than in early July.
For now, persistent ETF outflows across nearly every major cryptocurrency suggest institutional investors remain cautious as falling prices, macroeconomic uncertainty, and concerns surrounding Strategy continue to pressure digital asset markets.
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Ethereum (ETH) treasury company Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) is set to join the Russell 1000 Index after the close of US markets on Friday, while Solana (SOL) treasury firm Upexi (UPXI) will be added to the Russell Microcap Index when markets open on Monday.
Bitmine and Upexi join Russell indexes after meeting requirementsBitmine qualified for inclusion in the Russell 1000 after meeting the index's eligibility requirements, the firm initially announced on Monday. The large-cap index tracks the performance of the top 1000 US companies by market cap.
The inclusion places Bitmine alongside established US large-cap companies and increases the company's visibility among institutional investors and passive funds that track the Russell indexes.
Meanwhile, Upexi announced Thursday that it had secured a place in the Russell Microcap Index. The Solana-focused treasury holds over 2 million SOL acquired through acquisitions, staking and other capital allocation strategies.
"Inclusion in the Russell Microcap Index is a meaningful milestone that reflects the growth and transformation of Upexi over the past year, as we have grown our Solana treasury to more than two million SOL," said Allan Marshall, CEO of Upexi, in a statement on Friday.
Marshall added that the index inclusion is expected to expand the company's reach among institutional investors and fund managers that use Russell indexes as benchmarks.
Upexi operates both as a Solana-focused digital asset treasury company and a consumer brands business. Its treasury strategy centers on accumulating SOL while generating additional returns through staking and disciplined capital management.
The Russell Microcap Index includes the smallest companies in the Russell 2000, alongside the next tier of eligible US-listed microcap stocks. Constituents remain in the index until the next semi-annual reconstitution. The addition of Bitmine and Upexi is part of the June Russell US Indexes reconstitution.
Inclusion in major equity indexes can increase demand for a company's shares from passive funds that track those benchmarks. Broader institutional visibility and improved stock liquidity could help crypto treasury companies raise capital more efficiently to grow their holdings.
For example, in November, analysts warned that the potential removal of Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy from major equity benchmarks could trigger close to $9 billion in passive fund outflows.
Meanwhile, the crypto market has seen a significant decline in institutional activity over the past few months as bear market pressures intensified.
The declines have similarly affected companies whose stocks serve as proxies for investing in top cryptos. Several crypto firms have begun selling their holdings, with a few others pivoting from the crypto treasury model completely.
BMNR and UPXI are up 1.9% and 8.5%, respectively, on Friday.
Roughly $10.63 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options expire on Deribit Friday. The settlement drops into a market that keeps sliding lower while traders hunt for a floor.
Bitcoin trades near $60,200 after a 2% daily drop, while ether sits around $1,580 after a steeper 4.43% fall. Both rest far below their options max pain levels.
Puts Command a Premium as Traders Brace for DownsideFriday’s settlement ranks as the quarter’s largest options event on Deribit. The bulk of expiring value sits in Bitcoin, with notional contracts worth about $9.06 billion against ether’s $1.57 billion. Max pain marks the price where the most options expire worthless. Bitcoin’s level sits at $70,000, while ether’s sits at $2,000.
Bitcoin Expiring Options. Source: DeribitOpen interest leans toward calls in raw terms, yet positioning tells a cautious story. Bitcoin’s put-to-call ratio sits at 0.63, with 92,154 calls against 57,652 puts. Ether’s ratio runs lower at 0.50. The heavier call count reflects bullish bets now stranded well above the current price. Bitcoin’s recent options expiry events have followed a similar defensive pattern.
Ethereum Expiring Options. Source: DeribitAccording to Greeks.live, Bitcoin’s 25-delta skew has turned sharply negative on short-dated contracts. The skew reads -10.7% at one day, -11.3% at seven days, and -9.6% at one month. By contrast, longer tenors stay calmer near -6% and -5%.
“Puts continue to command a meaningful premium over calls across all major tenors,” analysts at Greeks.live stated.
That premium reflects steady demand for near-term downside protection. Traders are paying up to hedge a further slide rather than chase upside. Bitcoin’s recent price action has kept that hedging active through the week.
The Bottom Question Hangs Over SettlementGreeks.live places negative gamma between $60,000 and $64,000, the band where Bitcoin trades now. Positive gamma spreads across $67,000 to $82,000, with clusters near $67,000, $71,000, $75,000, and $80,000. The June, July, and September contracts drive most of that dealer exposure. The firm notes these readings exclude IBIT data.
That structure can keep price action choppy near current levels through expiry. Meanwhile, ether’s steeper price drop has pushed it well below its $2,000 max pain mark.
The expiry also lands during a broad crypto downturn. Both assets have slid to multi-month lows this week, deepening the case for caution into settlement.
Some forecasters expect deeper losses first. Jiang Zhuoer, founder of mining pool BTC.TOP, sees a late-2026 bottom forecast near $42,000 to $44,000. He points to Strategy’s mNAV slipping to 0.72, close to its 2022 low. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has floated a $40,000 Bitcoin bottom within six months. Even so, his year-end target still runs above $200,000.
Jiang’s broader four-year cycle model points to a bottom around late October. He has mined through several halvings and plans to buy back near the low.
Deribit, however, cautions against reading too much into the max pain pull.
“While max pain remains a widely followed metric, recent quarterly expiries have shown limited evidence of a consistent pinning effect ahead of settlement,” Deribit analysts indicated.
Both assets remain stuck below max pain heading into settlement. The next sessions may show whether sellers extend the search for a bottom or buyers finally step in.
Ethereum remains under heavy selling pressure after another rejection at a key resistance level, with the latest decline pushing the asset back toward a major demand zone. While buyers are attempting to stabilize the price around support, the broader trend remains firmly bearish as ETH continues to trade below all major moving averages.
Ethereum Price Analysis: The Daily Chart On the daily timeframe, Ethereum continues to print lower highs and lower lows while trading beneath the 100-day, 200-day, and long-term descending trendline, confirming that sellers remain in full control of the broader structure.
The recent recovery stalled precisely below the $1.72K to $1.78K supply zone before bearish momentum resumed. That rejection has now driven ETH back into the key support region around $1.46K to $1.56K, where buyers are once again attempting to defend the market.
This support zone has produced another reaction, but so far the rebound remains weak and has failed to alter the overall bearish structure. As long as Ethereum remains below the $1.72K to $1.78K resistance area, rallies are likely to be viewed as corrective rather than the beginning of a trend reversal.
A decisive loss of the current demand zone would expose the market to another leg lower, while reclaiming the nearby resistance would be the first indication that bearish momentum is beginning to fade.
ETH/USDT 4-Hour Chart The 4-hour chart highlights the recent rejection at the $1.72K to $1.78K resistance zone, triggering another sharp decline toward the lower boundary of the established range.
Following that sell-off, ETH has bounced modestly from the $1.50K to $1.53K support area, suggesting buyers remain active around this demand zone. However, the asset continues to trade near the bottom of the broader consolidation range, while every recovery attempt has so far produced another lower high.
The current structure suggests Ethereum may continue consolidating between approximately $1.52K and $1.75K in the near term. The lower boundary remains the critical level to watch, as another breakdown below support could accelerate bearish momentum, whereas reclaiming the upper resistance would improve the short-term outlook and open the door for a stronger recovery.
Sentiment Analysis The Exchange Netflow chart shows a notable increase in ETH moving onto exchanges over the most recent sessions, with the 14-day moving average of netflows turning sharply positive.
Historically, sustained positive exchange netflows indicate that more coins are being transferred to trading venues, often reflecting rising selling pressure or a greater willingness among holders to distribute their assets. This shift has coincided with Ethereum’s latest decline toward the $1.5K area.
Although exchange inflows alone do not guarantee additional downside, the recent surge suggests that supply entering exchanges remains elevated. Unless netflows begin to moderate while price stabilizes around the current demand zone, the on-chain data continues to favor a cautious outlook and supports the possibility of continued weakness before a more durable recovery can develop.
Trading of the DRAM memory ETF is now available on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
Jupiter official announcement: Trading of Roundhill Memory ETF (ticker: DRAM) is now supported on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of US stock markets, AI application software stocks rose against the trend, with ServiceNow and Figma climbing more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, AI software stocks in the US market rose against the trend at opening. ServiceNow (NOW.US) and Figma Inc (FIG.US) jumped more than 5%, while Palantir (PLTR.US), Adobe (ADBE.US), Workday (WDAY.US), Salesforce (CRM.US), and Datadog (DDOG.US) gained over 3%, and Microsoft (MSFT.US) rose by more than 2%. Microsoft has hiked Xbox prices three times in 13 months, and stated that storage component costs will double next year.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of the U.S. stock market, most space-themed concept stocks rose, while SpaceX declined 0.75%.
According to Bitget market data, most US space concept stocks advanced at the opening of US stock trading. Specifically: SpaceX (SPCX) slipped 0.75% to $151.8; Virgin Galactic (SPCE) gained 8%; AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) rose 3.45%; Rocket Lab (RKLB) added 4%; Redwire (RDW) gained 1.9%.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of US stock markets, optical communication concept stocks fell broadly, with MRVL, AAOI, and LITE down more than 6%.
According to Bitget market data, US stocks opened with broad declines in optical communication concept stocks, including: Pure Photonics ETF (FOTO) fell 5.7%; Marvell Technology (MRVL) — a stock NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang previously touted as the next trillion-dollar market cap company — dropped 6.1%; AAOI (Applied Optoelectronics) fell 7.1%; LITE (Lumentum Holdings) dropped 8.86%; COHR (Coherent Corp.) declined 8.4%; and CIEN (Ciena Corporation) fell 4.75%.
2 minutes ago
US stocks opened with all three major indices in the red, with semiconductor and storage sectors plunging; Micron and SanDisk fell more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, the three major US stock indexes all fell at opening: the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.44%, the S&P 500 declined 0.67%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%. The semiconductor and storage sectors saw broad declines, with individual stocks performing as follows: NVIDIA (NVDA) dropped 1.56%; Intel (INTC) fell 3.5%; Broadcom (AVGO) declined 2.5%; Qualcomm (QCOM) fell 0.4%; Seagate Technology (STX) dropped 5.78%; Western Digital (WDC) fell 7%; SanDisk (SNDK) declined 7.5%; Micron Technology (MU) dropped 5.4%.
Ethereum has been striving to hold its ground in the crucial support zone between $1,584 and $1,683 in recent days. Market analysts note that if ETH manages to sustain this level, bullish momentum could strengthen. On the other hand, a break below this band may pave the way for further selling pressure and deepen the correction.
Attention fixed on a key support zoneApproximately 4 million ETH changed hands in the spotlighted price range, turning this area into a technically significant support region. If Ethereum posts a daily close above $1,683, buyers could gain the upper hand, setting their sights on the next supply zones—$1,980 and $2,079.
A daily close above $1,683 could bolster the bullish outlook and lift the price toward the $1,980 to $2,079 range.
Conversely, a dip below $1,584 could undermine the existing technical structure, drawing attention to lower demand areas near $1,237 and $1,089. In this scenario, the market could once again focus on the psychologically significant $1,000 region.
In the short term, daily closes are expected to serve as the key indicator of direction. Whether buyers can defend this high-activity zone, or sellers seize control, will play a crucial role in determining the next move for ETH’s price.
Long term resistance remains a hurdleAt the time of reporting, ETH traded close to $1,573, remaining within the broader accumulation range between $1,400 and $1,700. Despite this, Ethereum still lingers below the long-term descending resistance line, keeping the overall trend under downward pressure.
Analysis points out that the pullback, which commenced after the 2025 peak, has added importance to this region. If buyers fail to protect the current zone, the bearish pattern could not only persist but potentially intensify. In that case, the $1,200 mark may again come into play.
As one of the largest blockchain networks for smart contracts and decentralized applications, Ethereum’s sharp price movements capture the attention of both the ETH market and a wider set of altcoin investors.
Ethereum continues to trade below both the long-term descending resistance line and the strong moving average resistance near the $2,332 level.
The main moving average resistance around $2,332 stands out as one of the most significant barriers to upward movement. According to market observers, overcoming the descending trend line and reclaiming this level could open the door to a more robust recovery for Ethereum.
For the time being, technical indicators suggest that caution still prevails. As long as ETH fails to rise above long-term resistance levels, broader macro pressures persist and downside risks in the market have not been eliminated.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
In addition, Tom Lee's Bitmine continues to stake ETH tokens.
With the latest major price moves (and mostly corrections) in the cryptocurrency markets, certain major players and whales have returned to act accordingly.
However, on-chain data from Lookonchain shows significant divergence between what SharpLink and some OG whales did. Here’s the Ethereum edition.
SharpLink Buys Riding the wave of cryptocurrency treasury companies that started accumulating in 2024/2025, Joe Lubin’s SharpLink began its ETH acquisition in the summer of 2025 and quickly became one of the largest players in the broader Ethereum ecosystem. Similar to Bitmine, it kept buying new tokens as prices rose and its position quickly skyrocketed to almost $1 billion in unrealized profits by early October.
Then came the cycle-changing event in that same early October when the entire market collapsed, leaving over $19 billion in liquidations. Ethereum, similar to almost all other assets, has not been the same ever since, with its price tumbling by 70% from the 2025 ATH to under $1,550 as of now.
Interestingly, unlike Bitmine, which kept accumulating for the most part during this extended bear phase, SharpLink stood on the sidelines. This finally changed after the latest Thursday crash, as the company halted its 8-month break to acquire almost $8 million worth of ETH. It holds 876,285 ETH (valued at $1.4 billion), which includes 22,102 ETH earned from staking.
However, its position is deep in the red as its average acquisition price stands at $3,609. Its unrealized loss, according to Lookonchain, is at $1.7 billion.
Meanwhile, Bitmine, which stands on a whopping unrealized loss of around $10 billion, continues to accumulate and stake the majority of its ETH tokens. In the latest update on the matter, the Tom Lee-chaired company staked another $250 million worth of ETH.
You may also like: Bitcoin (BTC) Dips Below $62K, Ethereum (ETH) Plunges 6% Daily: Market Watch 5 Reasons Why Bitcoin Just Crashed Below $63K as Liquidations Top $500M Bitmine Buys 52K ETH as Tom Lee Believes the Best Years for Crypto Are Still Ahead OG Whale Capitulates Another publication from Lookonchain shows that, in contrast to SharpLink, OG Ethereum whales have gone on a selling spree. Four such wallets received 37,602 ETH 8 years ago when the asset traded at $830. Their unrealized profits had risen to over $150 million during the 2021 and 2025 bull runs, but they refrained from selling.
However, they began disposing of their assets after the latest crash, which drove ETH to just over $1,500. As of press time, they had sold 33,623 ETH as their current profit sits at $27.4 million.
After holding $ETH for 8 years, these #Ethereum OGs finally gave up.
Four #Ethereum OG wallets received 37,602 $ETH($58.66M) 8 years ago at ~$830.
During the 2021 and 2025 bull markets, their unrealized profit exceeded $150M, but they never sold.
After 8 years of dormancy,… pic.twitter.com/bu5hqlIc9n
Former Ethereum Foundation member Trent Van Epps warned on Thursday that Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) faces a critical funding gap within 3 to 9 months.
Why The Foundation Is Pulling Back On PurposeVan Epps, who spent five years at the Ethereum Foundation before recently stepping away, explained in an interview with Coindesk that the organization is deliberately pushing legitimacy and funding power out into the broader ecosystem rather than holding onto it.
The Foundation’s treasury, built from the network’s earliest days, has funded critical shared resources like client development and the move from proof of work to proof of stake, but that treasury is shrinking by design.
Core development funding needs sit at roughly $30 million per year, a small figure against Ethereum’s $200 billion market cap and the trillions in stablecoin settlement the network handles.
The problem isn’t a lack of need. It’s that as the Foundation steps back, no clear institution has stepped up to fill the gap, even as the Foundation recently cut its workforce by 20% and saw executives depart.
Protocol Guild Raised $40 Million In Four Years, But It Isn’t EnoughVan Epps built Protocol Guild, a collective funding mechanism for Ethereum’s core developers, distributing nearly $40 million over four years.
“We’ve had some good success,” he said, “but ultimately it’s not sufficient.”
He pointed to the free-rider problem as the core obstacle to fixing it.
“If somebody donates, but their competitor doesn’t, all of a sudden they have a distinct advantage over somebody who’s parted with some of their resources to fund the shared resource,” he said, calling coordination among large stakeholders genuinely hard even when most understand what’s at stake.
Beyond the funding question, Van Epps argued ETH as an asset needs fresh, confident storytelling that connects the token directly to the EVM’s dominance, the engine underpinning roughly 90% of total value locked across crypto including layer-2 networks.
ETH’s Chart Shows Oversold Conditions After A Sharp Trendline BreakETH broke a rising trendline that had held since February, triggering a fast move down through $1,900, then $1,800, into the $1,557 level.
The death cross from November 2025 remains intact across all major moving averages.
RSI sits at 28.98, an oversold reading that often precedes bounce attempts even within a larger downtrend.
The 20-day EMA at $1,707.57 and 50-day EMA at $1,864.11 sit overhead as the first levels traders will watch for any recovery to either fail or gain real traction.
Image: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Trading of the DRAM memory ETF is now available on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
Jupiter official announcement: Trading of Roundhill Memory ETF (ticker: DRAM) is now supported on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of US stock markets, AI application software stocks rose against the trend, with ServiceNow and Figma climbing more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, AI software stocks in the US market rose against the trend at opening. ServiceNow (NOW.US) and Figma Inc (FIG.US) jumped more than 5%, while Palantir (PLTR.US), Adobe (ADBE.US), Workday (WDAY.US), Salesforce (CRM.US), and Datadog (DDOG.US) gained over 3%, and Microsoft (MSFT.US) rose by more than 2%. Microsoft has hiked Xbox prices three times in 13 months, and stated that storage component costs will double next year.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of the U.S. stock market, most space-themed concept stocks rose, while SpaceX declined 0.75%.
According to Bitget market data, most US space concept stocks advanced at the opening of US stock trading. Specifically: SpaceX (SPCX) slipped 0.75% to $151.8; Virgin Galactic (SPCE) gained 8%; AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) rose 3.45%; Rocket Lab (RKLB) added 4%; Redwire (RDW) gained 1.9%.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of US stock markets, optical communication concept stocks fell broadly, with MRVL, AAOI, and LITE down more than 6%.
According to Bitget market data, US stocks opened with broad declines in optical communication concept stocks, including: Pure Photonics ETF (FOTO) fell 5.7%; Marvell Technology (MRVL) — a stock NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang previously touted as the next trillion-dollar market cap company — dropped 6.1%; AAOI (Applied Optoelectronics) fell 7.1%; LITE (Lumentum Holdings) dropped 8.86%; COHR (Coherent Corp.) declined 8.4%; and CIEN (Ciena Corporation) fell 4.75%.
2 minutes ago
US stocks opened with all three major indices in the red, with semiconductor and storage sectors plunging; Micron and SanDisk fell more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, the three major US stock indexes all fell at opening: the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.44%, the S&P 500 declined 0.67%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%. The semiconductor and storage sectors saw broad declines, with individual stocks performing as follows: NVIDIA (NVDA) dropped 1.56%; Intel (INTC) fell 3.5%; Broadcom (AVGO) declined 2.5%; Qualcomm (QCOM) fell 0.4%; Seagate Technology (STX) dropped 5.78%; Western Digital (WDC) fell 7%; SanDisk (SNDK) declined 7.5%; Micron Technology (MU) dropped 5.4%.
26 June 2026 | 15:11 ETH is trading at $1,550, and its liquidation map tells a lopsided story. Across Binance, OKX, and Bybit over the past 180 days, the leverage is almost entirely stacked on the short side, above current price. Below it, there's very little left.
Key Takeaways ETH trades at $1,546, with leverage stacked heavily on the short side above price. Long liquidations below price are minimal; those positions are already gone. Cumulative short liquidation leverage builds to $6.80B by $2,063. The map shows where the fuel sits, not whether anything ignites it. The long liquidation side below current price is thinning, not concentrated. According to Coinglass data, cumulative long liquidation leverage reaches $613.33M at $1,330, the lowest visible level, with Binance at $532.18K and OKX at $199.98K there. Closer to current price, $1,497 shows $501.24M in cumulative long liquidations (Binance $21.65M, OKX $11.46M, Bybit $13.26M), and $1,530 reaches $320.46M (Binance $64.71M, OKX $26.52M, Bybit $38.40M).
The important detail is that these are cumulative figures, the total long exposure that would be wiped if ETH fell all the way to each level, not single clusters sitting there waiting. The individual bar sizes at each level below $1,546 are small relative to the short side above, which tells the real story: most leveraged longs were already flushed during the drawdown from $1,800-plus levels. The long liquidation cascade below current price has largely been executed, and the remaining downside risk is distributed and thinning rather than concentrated.
The clearest evidence is right at current price. The largest long liquidation bar sits at $1,540-$1,556, marking $211.93M in long liquidations triggered around current levels. That cluster having already fired confirms the recent flush was real and those positions are gone. The next meaningful long liquidation level doesn’t appear until $1,486.
The Short Side Is Where the Weight Is Above current price, the picture changes. Cumulative short liquidation leverage builds steadily from $1,546 upward, reaching $6.58B by $2,063, with the largest single concentration at $2,063.5, where $6.80B in cumulative shorts would be triggered. Short positioning is stacked consistently at every $20-40 increment between $1,550 and $2,063, with the tallest individual bar around $1,756 and another notable cluster at $1,867-$1,904.
The Short Liquidation Ladder Three levels define the structure, and the exchange breakdown at each is revealing:
$1,756, first major cluster: $2.28B in cumulative short leverage. Bybit dominates at $102.65M, Binance at $98.46M, OKX light at $17.81M. $1,863, mid-range cluster: cumulative shorts reach $3.58B. Binance leads at $51.54M, OKX at $27.75M, Bybit drops to $11.96M. $2,044-$2,063, peak cluster: cumulative short leverage at $6.49-6.80B. OKX spikes to $108.73M, its heaviest single-level exposure on the entire map, Binance holds at $98.11M, Bybit falls to $3.33M. The exchange concentrations sit at different prices: Bybit shorts cluster lower at $1,756, Binance spreads more evenly across the range, and OKX shorts concentrate heavily near $2,044. A move across that range would flush different exchange communities at each level rather than hitting everyone at once.
What the Map Does and Doesn’t Say The important distinction is that this map describes potential energy, not kinetic energy. The short leverage stacked above current price means that if ETH moved upward for any reason, a macro catalyst, progress on the Clarity Act, ETF inflows reversing from current 7 week streak outflows, or a development like a final US-Iran deal resolving the open questions around enriched uranium and the Strait of Hormuz, each level is poised to mechanically force short covering, which usually tends to accelerate the move. The $1,756 cluster is the first such trigger; $2,063 is where the accumulated pressure peaks.
What the map cannot tell you is what would cause that move, when it might happen, or whether it happens at all. ETH could just as easily continue lower, in which case all that short leverage rides profit without ever being touched. The map shows where the fuel is sitting. It says nothing about whether anyone lights the match.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Consult a professional before making investment decisions.
Author
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
@BlackRock has deposited an additional 4,577 $BTC and 41,996 $ETH into Coinbase Prime, valued at approximately $337.2 million, continuing a notable pattern of large crypto transfers to the institutional platform.
Part of a Larger Wave of Transfers The latest deposit follows a significant $611 million liquidity transfer executed earlier in the week. Over that prior 48-hour period, BlackRock moved a total of 7,160 $BTC and 98,850 $ETH to wallet addresses on Coinbase Prime, with a combined value of approximately $611 million based on asset prices at the time. Those earlier tokens were transferred across multiple wallet addresses in three separate batches of large $BTC transfers and a single transfer carrying over 51,000 $ETH.
The market is interpreting the activity as tied to ETF fund flows and is watching future net inflows and outflows closely. The moves have sparked mixed reactions among investors, though the pattern has become familiar and is often expected during periods when BlackRock's ETF products are witnessing net outflows.
What the Transfers May Signal While the deposits have fueled speculation about possible sell activity, analysts noted that transfers to institutional trading platforms do not automatically confirm direct liquidation of Bitcoin or Ethereum holdings. Coinbase Prime supports institutional custody and settlement services, meaning wallet transfers alone cannot establish whether any sale occurred.
When an institutional investor like BlackRock deposits Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime, it often precedes a specific action within the ETF ecosystem, such as creating new shares or settling redemptions. BlackRock has not confirmed any sales or disclosed the purpose of the transfers, leaving open the possibility that the movements relate to institutional custody or settlement services rather than immediate trading activity.
The scale and frequency of the transfers nonetheless reinforce BlackRock's position as one of the most active institutional participants in the digital asset space, with on-chain trackers continuing to flag each new movement as a key data point for market participants.
Sources:
BlackRock Sends $217M in Bitcoin and Ethereum to Coinbase Prime, Blockonomi
BlackRock Transfers Over $600 Million in BTC and ETH to Coinbase, Digital Today
BlackRock Extends Bitcoin and Ethereum Transfers With Massive $217M Move, Crypto Economy
The XRP Ledger (XRPL) community is witnessing a controversy owing to an on-chain analyst’s recent allegations. They accused that yield protocol SOIL enabled its insider wallets to profit by selling its own tokens using XRP liquidity during its XRP Ledger launch.
XRP Ledger’s New Yield Protocol In Crosshairs An on-chain analyst named “Skeptic” on X argued that the blockchain data suggested that there was no strong selling pressure for SOIL token from average investors. Rather, the user claimed the sell pressure came from wallets that had received SOIL tokens directly from the issuer.
“The main sell pressure is not coming from random holders. It is coming from wallets that received SOIL directly from the issuer and then quickly sold into the AMM,” Skeptic wrote. His comments grabbed market attention, especially since the XRP Ledger v3.2.0 was released recently.
The post states that one wallet was involved in 20 transactions receiving approximately 68,766 SOIL. This stack was then sold for approximately 11,457 XRP. Another wallet allegedly received 17,098 SOIL before selling around 17,998 SOIL for 6,769 XRP. Meanwhile, a third received 20,000 SOIL. Out of this, it offloaded approximately 17,628 SOIL for 6,683 XRP.
SOIL on XRPL is already showing a very ugly on-chain pattern.
I checked the flow around the XRPL SOIL issuer address the @soil_farm itself published for trustlines and trading:
rfmS3zqrQrka8wVyhXifEeyTwe8AMz2Yhw
The main sell pressure is not coming from random holders.
It is… pic.twitter.com/jJ6s3s9Czx
— Skeptic (@skeptic589) June 26, 2026
Skeptic said that the pattern “does not look like healthy price discovery” and instead “looks like issuer distribution followed by immediate dumping.” The user also asserted that the XRP community was “used as exit liquidity.”
Apart from that, the analyst noted that SOIL was trading in the Ethereum, Polygon, MEXC, Gate.io, BitMart and BVOX markets prior to its XRP Ledger launch. The post says while the tokens were sold on the XRPL, CoinMarketCap data showed a massive surge in the price of SOIL. The token price skyrocketed by about 53% in the last 24 hours from approximately $0.06147 to $0.09861.
Meanwhile, MEXC has also reported positive performance in the past 24 hours. Thus, Skeptic pointed out that “XRPL was not joining a fair, balanced market. XRPL liquidity was effectively used to absorb supply distributed from the issuer while price action elsewhere stayed stronger.”
The post concluded that what happened on XRP Ledger was “blatant unprofessionalism.”
What Did The SOIL Team Respond? The team of SOIL on XRP Ledger vehemently denied the charges. They claimed the price surge came about due to “high demand on thin liquidity” rather than insider selling.
“The price spike on XRPL DEXes happened because high demand hit thin liquidity. Simple as that,” the team wrote. It added that “SOIL team doesn’t influence the token price, the market arbitrages on its own.” Moreover, they accused that Skeptic was fueling FUD in the community.
Skeptic went on to say, “At the time of launch, you were the only ones who had the tokens needed to provide liquidity.” Soil then replied, “The wallet addresses you shared are bridge addresses, not team/project wallets.”
The protocol also mentioned that the difference in prices is frequent between decentralized and centralized exchanges when the market making is limited. “The liquidity that was in place worked fine… It only became an issue when demand spiked hard and fast,” SOIL said. They added that arbitrage between exchanges was “literally the mechanism working as intended.”
Skeptic was still not satisfied. Hence, he ended up responding, “In other words, you weren’t prepared for that level of demand and didn’t provide enough liquidity.” Now, Soil’s XRP Ledger lending protocol upgrade is also under fire.
After another user inquired if locked up RLUSD deposits were in danger, the discussion further heated up. Skeptic said there was no proof for that and emphasized the criticism was only about the token launch. He concluded, “Simply put, they screwed up.”
Meanwhile, in another update, it’s worth noting that XRP Ledger overtook Ethereum in terms of RLUSD supply.
For those looking for crypto-backed borrowing, visit our page on Crypto Loan Platforms.
BlackRock just shifted 4,577 BTC and 41,996 ETH to Coinbase Prime, a combined transfer worth approximately $336 million.
The Bitcoin portion alone was valued at roughly $271 million, while the Ethereum tranche came in at around $65 million. On-chain tracking firms including Onchain Lens and Arkham flagged the transactions, which are linked to BlackRock’s management of its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA).
What’s actually happening here Coinbase Prime serves as BlackRock’s custody, trading, and operational partner for its crypto ETF products. These transfers are the plumbing behind ETF share creation, redemption, and portfolio rebalancing. When new ETF shares are created because investor demand is high, the underlying crypto needs to move to the right custodial accounts. When shares are redeemed, the process reverses.
On-chain analysts have broadly characterized this transfer as consistent with standard ETF-related flows rather than any directional market bet. The absence of meaningful price movement in either Bitcoin or Ethereum following the deposit reinforces that interpretation.
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In January 2026 alone, BlackRock has transferred over $300 million in cryptocurrency to Coinbase Prime. Throughout 2025 and into 2026, similar transactions regularly exceeded $100 million per event.
BlackRock has not issued any official commentary on the transfer.
The bigger picture for crypto ETFs The fact that these transfers have become routine, happening regularly and in increasingly large sizes, signals that institutional infrastructure for crypto has matured well past the experimental phase.
The Ethereum side of the equation is worth noting separately. ETHA, BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF, has operated in the shadow of IBIT since launch. The 41,996 ETH transfer, while smaller in dollar terms, still represents meaningful operational activity. At roughly $65 million, the ETH deposit suggests that Ethereum ETF flows remain active.
What this means for investors When $336 million in crypto moves from the world’s largest asset manager to an exchange and nothing happens, it tells you something about where we are in the institutional adoption cycle. The market has learned to distinguish between operational custody transfers and actual buy or sell pressure.
The pattern is now well-established: large deposits to Coinbase Prime from BlackRock wallets are overwhelmingly associated with ETF mechanics, not market positioning.
Over $300 million in transfers in a single month suggests that ETF inflows and redemptions are running at a healthy clip. Sustained ETF activity of this magnitude acts as a structural demand source for both Bitcoin and Ethereum, providing a floor of institutional liquidity that didn’t exist before 2024.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Trading of the DRAM memory ETF is now available on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
Jupiter official announcement: Trading of Roundhill Memory ETF (ticker: DRAM) is now supported on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of US stock markets, AI application software stocks rose against the trend, with ServiceNow and Figma climbing more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, AI software stocks in the US market rose against the trend at opening. ServiceNow (NOW.US) and Figma Inc (FIG.US) jumped more than 5%, while Palantir (PLTR.US), Adobe (ADBE.US), Workday (WDAY.US), Salesforce (CRM.US), and Datadog (DDOG.US) gained over 3%, and Microsoft (MSFT.US) rose by more than 2%. Microsoft has hiked Xbox prices three times in 13 months, and stated that storage component costs will double next year.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of the U.S. stock market, most space-themed concept stocks rose, while SpaceX declined 0.75%.
According to Bitget market data, most US space concept stocks advanced at the opening of US stock trading. Specifically: SpaceX (SPCX) slipped 0.75% to $151.8; Virgin Galactic (SPCE) gained 8%; AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) rose 3.45%; Rocket Lab (RKLB) added 4%; Redwire (RDW) gained 1.9%.
2 minutes ago
At the opening of US stock markets, optical communication concept stocks fell broadly, with MRVL, AAOI, and LITE down more than 6%.
According to Bitget market data, US stocks opened with broad declines in optical communication concept stocks, including: Pure Photonics ETF (FOTO) fell 5.7%; Marvell Technology (MRVL) — a stock NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang previously touted as the next trillion-dollar market cap company — dropped 6.1%; AAOI (Applied Optoelectronics) fell 7.1%; LITE (Lumentum Holdings) dropped 8.86%; COHR (Coherent Corp.) declined 8.4%; and CIEN (Ciena Corporation) fell 4.75%.
2 minutes ago
US stocks opened with all three major indices in the red, with semiconductor and storage sectors plunging; Micron and SanDisk fell more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, the three major US stock indexes all fell at opening: the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.44%, the S&P 500 declined 0.67%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%. The semiconductor and storage sectors saw broad declines, with individual stocks performing as follows: NVIDIA (NVDA) dropped 1.56%; Intel (INTC) fell 3.5%; Broadcom (AVGO) declined 2.5%; Qualcomm (QCOM) fell 0.4%; Seagate Technology (STX) dropped 5.78%; Western Digital (WDC) fell 7%; SanDisk (SNDK) declined 7.5%; Micron Technology (MU) dropped 5.4%.
Notable on-chain data in the cryptocurrency market has revealed that some early-stage Ethereum investors, who have been inactive for many years, have begun selling.
According to information shared by the blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, four Ethereum wallets that had been inactive for approximately eight years have recently sold a significant amount of ETH.
According to the data, these investors purchased a total of 37,602 ETH in 2018, when Ethereum was trading at approximately $830. The total value of these purchases at that time was estimated at approximately $31.16 million.
It is reported that during Ethereum’s strong bull markets in 2021 and 2025, the unrealized profits of these wallets exceeded $150 million. However, investors continued to hold onto their assets during those periods without selling.
According to Lookonchain data, four wallets became active again today after eight years of silence. In the last four hours, investors sold a total of 33,623 ETH, executing transactions at an average price of $1,560. The total value of the Ethereum sold is estimated at approximately $52.46 million, while the total realized profit for investors is estimated at approximately $27.4 million.
Market experts say that investors are closely watching the reactivation of large wallets that have been inactive for a long time. In particular, the selling decisions of early-stage investors are considered among the important indicators of market sentiment.
Ethereum’s price has been volatile recently, and investors are closely watching the impact of large-scale selling on short-term price movements.
*This is not investment advice.
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Trading of the DRAM memory ETF is now available on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
Jupiter official announcement: Trading of Roundhill Memory ETF (ticker: DRAM) is now supported on the Solana blockchain, with its holdings covering Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and SanDisk.
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At the opening of US stock markets, AI application software stocks rose against the trend, with ServiceNow and Figma climbing more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, AI software stocks in the US market rose against the trend at opening. ServiceNow (NOW.US) and Figma Inc (FIG.US) jumped more than 5%, while Palantir (PLTR.US), Adobe (ADBE.US), Workday (WDAY.US), Salesforce (CRM.US), and Datadog (DDOG.US) gained over 3%, and Microsoft (MSFT.US) rose by more than 2%. Microsoft has hiked Xbox prices three times in 13 months, and stated that storage component costs will double next year.
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At the opening of the U.S. stock market, most space-themed concept stocks rose, while SpaceX declined 0.75%.
According to Bitget market data, most US space concept stocks advanced at the opening of US stock trading. Specifically: SpaceX (SPCX) slipped 0.75% to $151.8; Virgin Galactic (SPCE) gained 8%; AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) rose 3.45%; Rocket Lab (RKLB) added 4%; Redwire (RDW) gained 1.9%.
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At the opening of US stock markets, optical communication concept stocks fell broadly, with MRVL, AAOI, and LITE down more than 6%.
According to Bitget market data, US stocks opened with broad declines in optical communication concept stocks, including: Pure Photonics ETF (FOTO) fell 5.7%; Marvell Technology (MRVL) — a stock NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang previously touted as the next trillion-dollar market cap company — dropped 6.1%; AAOI (Applied Optoelectronics) fell 7.1%; LITE (Lumentum Holdings) dropped 8.86%; COHR (Coherent Corp.) declined 8.4%; and CIEN (Ciena Corporation) fell 4.75%.
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US stocks opened with all three major indices in the red, with semiconductor and storage sectors plunging; Micron and SanDisk fell more than 5%.
According to Bitget market data, the three major US stock indexes all fell at opening: the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.44%, the S&P 500 declined 0.67%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%. The semiconductor and storage sectors saw broad declines, with individual stocks performing as follows: NVIDIA (NVDA) dropped 1.56%; Intel (INTC) fell 3.5%; Broadcom (AVGO) declined 2.5%; Qualcomm (QCOM) fell 0.4%; Seagate Technology (STX) dropped 5.78%; Western Digital (WDC) fell 7%; SanDisk (SNDK) declined 7.5%; Micron Technology (MU) dropped 5.4%.
Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine will join the Russell 1000 today, marking a significant development for the company. This comes as BMNR stock extends its decline, with renewed selling pressure amid the crypto market downtrend.
Bimine To Join Russell 1000 After Market Close In an X post, the Ethereum treasury firm announced that it will be added to the Russell 1000 today, effective after the market close. The stock market index notably comprises the largest 1,000 stocks in the Russell 3000.
Alongside Bitmine, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and some small-cap stocks will also be included in the Russell 1000 today. The announcement from the Ethereum treasury company comes after CoinGape reported earlier this week on the potential Russell 1000 inclusion of Bitmine.
The Russell 1000 inclusion marks a positive for the Ethereum treasury firm as fund managers will have to rebalance their portfolios and add the stock, providing new buying pressure for the company’s stock. Ahead of the inclusion, the firm highlighted its current financial status, noting that it has 5.6 million ETH on its balance sheet.
Furthermore, Bitmine holds $601 million in cash and marketable securities and $350 million in its preferred security, BMNP. The company also noted that it has no debt and boasts an annualized staking yield of $233 million, having staked over 4.7 million ETH.
BMNR Stock Extends Decline BMNR stock has extended its decline today, trading around $13 and down over 2%, according to TradingView. The stock is also notably down by over 16% in the last five days. This comes amid renewed selling pressure in the crypto market, which has driven the Ethereum price down to around $1,500.
Source: TradingView; BMNR daily chart With the recent Ethereum decline, Bitmine’s unrealized loss on its ETH investment now stands at just over $10.5 billion, according to DropsTab data. The company has an average price of around $3,400 on its ETH holdings.
Source: DropsTab It is worth noting that Ethereum has also lost its spot as the second-largest crypto asset by market cap, falling below Tether’s USDT. Despite the market downtrend, Bitmine has maintained its weekly ETH buys.
The company expects to reach its goal of accumulating 5% of the total ETH supply sometime this year. Meanwhile, Bitmine’s Chairman, Tom Lee, said they are seeing signs that the market is in the early stages of a crypto spring despite the downtrend.