Ethereum’s recent recovery has exposed a striking disconnect beneath the surface. While retail investors holding between 100 and 1,000 ETH unloaded roughly 207,000 tokens, large wallets in the 10,000 to 100,000 ETH range absorbed 182,000 ETH during the same stretch. The contrast suggests the rally is being driven less by broad-based retail enthusiasm and more by deliberate accumulation from deep-pocketed addresses — a dynamic that has kept the market’s footing uncertain even as prices climb.
At current levels, ETH trades around $2,447.30, having gained 28 percent over the past seven days and 25 percent over the past month. The daily move, however, is slightly negative at minus 1.3 percent, an early indication that the sharp ascent of recent sessions may be losing momentum. Year-to-date, Ethereum remains 18 percent in the red, and over a twelve-month horizon, it trails by a substantial 47 percent.
Institutional Money Returns, But Not Without Hedging
A key pillar of the recent strength has been the revival of US spot ETH ETFs. Monday brought net inflows of $115.5 million, marking the sixth consecutive day of positive flows. Across the entire month of August, inflows reportedly totaled just over $1.06 billion — the strongest monthly figure in a year. Cumulative inflows over that six-day streak reached $812.8 million, though the year-to-date picture still shows a net outflow of roughly $191.8 million.
Institutional buyers have been active on the direct-acquisition front as well. Bitmine and investor Tom Lee together added around 34,000 ETH to their positions. Bitmine alone now holds more than 5.8 million ETH, though it has recently slowed its purchasing cadence and shifted toward buying back its own shares to the tune of $50 million to $58 million.
Not everyone is leaning bullish. Market maker Wintermute increased its short position on the Hyperliquid platform to $53 million, while Abraxas Capital and Fasanara have reportedly built combined short exposure of around $600 million. The derivative market has also seen violent activity: weekend short liquidations reached roughly $69 million, with total liquidations across a 24-hour window surpassing $100 million.
Overbought Signals and a Cautious Technical Picture
The technical backdrop points to a market running hot. The 14-day RSI sits at 75.8, firmly in overbought territory. ETH currently trades 26 percent above its 50-day moving average of $1,947.65 and 22 percent above the 200-day average of $2,012.38. The recent golden cross — where the short-term average crosses above the long-term one — is technically a bullish signal, though after sharp rallies it can also foreshadow a consolidation phase.
Standard Chartered analysts maintain a year-end target of $4,000. Others urge caution: one analysis notes that Ethereum has at times traded below the realized price of all major whales — a phenomenon last seen in September 2018, which preceded an extended period of weakness. Resistance levels are identified at $2,678 and $2,865, while support sits at $2,431, $2,162, and $2,144.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Ethereum?
Chinese miner Jiang Zhuoer has declared the bear market over and plans to rotate 20 to 30 percent of his reserves into ETH, having already accumulated between $1,738 and $1,931. Adding to the cautionary tone are a roughly 20 percent workforce reduction at the Ethereum Foundation and a pronounced imbalance between derivative and spot volumes — approximately $74 billion versus $5 billion — a ratio that leaves price action more vulnerable to abrupt reversals.
Glamsterdam: A Protocol Shift on the Horizon
While traders wrestle with near-term volatility, developers are already focused on the next major technical milestone: the Glamsterdam upgrade, slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. The upgrade fundamentally changes how transaction fees are calculated and will require wallet providers to adapt.
At the core are EIP-8037 and EIP-8038, which introduce a gas repricing mechanism. Until now, a simple transfer has carried a fixed cost of 21,000 gas — a constant that many wallets and smart contracts have hardcoded. Under Glamsterdam, sending to a brand-new address will incur an additional 183,600 units of a new state-gas dimension. Transfers to existing addresses remain at the familiar 21,000 gas. Developers warn that tooling with hardcoded gas limits could break, meaning wallet providers must update their software before the upgrade goes live.
To catch such issues early, the Platåberget testnet launched on August 20 as the first testing ground for the repricing, ahead of deployment on the established Sepolia and Hoodi testnets. Sepolia activation is scheduled for September 28, with confirmation expected in early September. Glamsterdam also brings other structural changes: a block gas limit raised to 200 million, the ePBS mechanism, and block-level access lists.
In parallel, developers are working on a longer-term initiative: a redesign of the deposit contract to future-proof the network against quantum computers. The proposal supports variable lengths for public keys and metadata, replaces the existing Merkle tree structure with the EIP-7685 standard, and includes a deliberately irreversible migration switch. Schema 0 remains reserved for the current BLS signature, allowing for a gradual transition.
Security Fixes and a Long Road Back
Beyond protocol development, this week brought a notable security update: hardware wallet maker Ledger patched a vulnerability in its Ethereum signature process. Attackers could have swapped a transaction during the approval phase — at the boundary between dApp and Ledger signature. Private keys were not compromised, according to the company, but users must update their Ethereum app.
All this technical activity arrives as Ethereum sits nearly 49 percent below its 52-week high of $4,796.35 from August 2025, with the current price around $2,448.11. The recent inflows and whale accumulation suggest renewed institutional conviction, yet the combination of overbought indicators, heavy short positioning, and a still-distant peak underscores how much ground remains to be reclaimed.
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