Ethereum News Today: Ethereum's $201B Utility Surge vs. ETH's Range-Bound Price: Awaiting Macro Clarity?

Ethereum's tokenized asset base has surged to $201 billion, capturing nearly two-thirds of the $314 billion global market, as institutional adoption and stablecoin dominance reinforce its position as the crypto industry's foundational settlement layer. Analysts argue these fundamentals, coupled with dwindling exchange-held ETH supplies, position the network for a re-rating of its native token, Ether (ETH), despite its current price hovering below $3,500, according to a Cointelegraph analysis.

Stablecoins remain central to Ethereum's growth, with USDT and USDC collectively sustaining deep liquidity pools across decentralized finance (DeFi), cross-border payments, and exchanges. PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin alone facilitated $18.6 billion in transfers on Ethereum in late 2025, a 260% year-over-year increase, underscoring the network's role in mainstream financial infrastructure, as noted in a Coinotag report. Meanwhile, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) have emerged as a fast-growing category, with Ethereum hosting $12 billion in tokenized treasuries, funds, and credit instruments—34% of the global RWA market, according to the same Cointelegraph analysis.

Institutional involvement has accelerated this trend. BlackRock, Fidelity, and other traditional asset managers have launched on-chain versions of their funds, driving a 2,000% surge in tokenized fund assets under management (AUM) since early 2024. Fidelity Digital Assets highlighted stablecoins and RWAs as "noteworthy developments," noting that stablecoins processed $18 trillion in volume over the past year—surpassing Visa's $15.4 trillion annual throughput, according to the Cointelegraph report. Token Terminal data also revealed that tokenized gold on Ethereum and other chains tripled to $3.5 billion in 2025, reflecting institutional demand for blockchain-based alternatives to physical assets, as reported in a Coinotag analysis.

Despite robust on-chain activity, ETH's price remains range-bound. Technical indicators as of late 2025 show ETH consolidating below the 9-day exponential moving average, with a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 37.7 and negative Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) at -0.10, signaling weak buying pressure, according to the Coinotag analysis. Derivatives data reinforce caution: open interest fell to $17.6 billion, and funding rates remain near neutral, suggesting traders are awaiting clearer catalysts, as reported in a Ambcrypto report. Analysts at 10x Research, however, remain bullish for 2026, citing a doubling of Ethereum's on-chain liquidity since U.S. President Trump's election and growing institutional staking activity as precursors to a potential breakout, according to a Coinpedia report.

The disconnect between Ethereum's fundamentals and ETH's price has sparked debate. While tokenized assets and stablecoin inflows indicate strong network utility, market participants note that ETH's price action hinges on broader macroeconomic factors and regulatory clarity. For now, the asset remains in a consolidation phase, with key resistance levels at $3,650 and $3,920, as Coinpedia noted.