The price of ether (ETH) rose 3% between Thursday and Friday, outperforming the broader cryptocurrency market. The move comes amid growing tokenization, the success of Robinhood Chain and continued corporate treasury purchases. However, ETH failed to breach the $1,800 level amid feeble onchain and derivatives metrics. Is Ether price committed to retesting $1,700?
Key takeaways:
- Ethereum is leading RWA tokenization, while Robinhood Chain is driving fresh ETH inflows and ecosystem growth.
- Mixed signals remain amid bulky BitMine accumulation, but stagnant onchain metrics signal caution.
The Robinhood chain and the rise of tokenization are increasing the price of ETH
The successful launch of Robinhood Chain’s Layer 2 network has boosted Ether investor sentiment. The newly launched blockchain uses ETH as its native gas token and has earned $106 million in bridge deposits. Robinhood’s TradFi trading platform offers tokenized stocks to customers in 120 countries, further strengthening its EVM-compatible ecosystem.
Value of distributed tokenized assets per chain, USD. Source: rwa.xyz
According to Rwa.xyz data, Ethereum dominates the RWA (real world asset) market with 47% market share. Excluding stablecoins, notable developments include SKY Tether Gold (XAUT), Ondo US Dollar Yield (USDY), and Franklin Templeton Government Bond (iBENJI). The leaders among tokenized stocks are variable PP Strategy (STRCx) from xStocks and Circle Group (CRCLon) from Ondo.
Source: X/LeonWaidmann
Leon Waidmann, head of research at Lisk, noted that for the first time in history, Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) of $260 billion has exceeded Ether’s market capitalization, currently at $210 billion. According to Waidmann, this distortion signals that “ETH is undervalued” because the current relative valuation is lower than during the 2022 bear market.
Tender onchain and derivative metrics limit Ether’s advantage
Regardless of growing adoption of Ethereum Layer 2 solutions and institutional inflows, onchain metrics point to overall stagnation. The 2026 bear market will hurt blockchain demand while competing blockchains have gained traction in specific sectors, including synthetic perpetual futures and automated yield vaults.
Ethereum Weekly Revenue from DApps, USD (left) vs. dynamic addresses (right). source: DefiLlama
Decentralized applications (DApps) on Ethereum generated $11 million in weekly revenue, up from $20 million in the first quarter of 2026. Notable mentions include Sky with $3.1 million, Titan Builder with $2.4 million and Chalink with $1.1 million. Similarly, according to DefiLlama, the number of dynamic addresses dropped to 3.2 million from 5.4 million in the first quarter.
ETH perpetual futures annual funding rate. Source: Lightness
Meanwhile, the one-year funding rate for ETH perpetual futures fell to 3% on Saturday, below the neutral threshold of 6%, signaling feeble demand for bullish positions. The current data contrasts with Friday’s peak of 12%, suggesting bulls lack confidence. However, institutional inflows likely explain the recent price boost.
Source: X/Arkham
Arkham Intelligence reported the withdrawal of 20,500 ETH worth $36 million from Galaxy Digital to a fresh wallet on Thursday, matching Tom Lee’s previous BitMine Immersion (BMNR US) purchases. BitMine has added 198,370 ETH in the last 30 days alone, while the treasury company currently holds $10.3 billion in reserves.
Ultimately, the mixed signals from powerful fundamentals and feeble onchain indicators do not justify a retest of the $1,700 level, especially given BitMine’s impressive accumulation rate.
