Ethereum Drops 2.935% as Grayscale Launches Income-Focused ETF

Ethereum's latest price was $4323.80, down 2.935% in the last 24 hours. Grayscale has introduced the Ethereum Covered Call ETF (ETCO), a new exchange-traded fund designed to generate income through an options-based strategy. This fund is part of Grayscale’s growing lineup of income-focused products. Unlike traditional ETFs, ETCO does not directly invest in Ethereum. Instead, it uses derivatives tied to exchange-traded products that track Ether’s price, such as the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) and the Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH). The fund aims to collect premiums from options while offering exposure to Ether’s price movement, distributing income twice monthly on the 15th and 30th. This strategy involves writing call options near current prices, providing a source of income and cushioning declines. The fund is fully options-based and actively managed, with no guarantee of outcomes, but its method is focused on consistent distribution. By collecting option premiums, the ETF intends to provide cash flow regardless of short-term price swings. The fund’s structure may appeal to those seeking high-yield opportunities tied to crypto markets, with regular income payments targeting investors balancing price exposure with steady distributions.

The amount of Ethereum waiting to enter staking has surpassed the volume queued for withdrawal for the first time since July, marking a significant shift in network activity. According to data from the Ethereum Validator Queue, the staking entry line reached 833,141 ETH on Sept. 4, surpassing the 819,757 ETH currently awaiting exit from staking pools. This is the first time since July 22 that the entry requests have outpaced exits. Staking service provider Everstake noted that the surge reflects the largest queues observed since 2023, when the Shanghai upgrade allowed staked ETH withdrawals. As a result, ETH stakers must wait approximately 15 days before they can stake their assets on the chain. Despite this shift, the total supply of staked ETH is expected to remain largely steady at above 36 million ETH because the entry and exit volumes nearly balance each other out.

Ethereum is seeing steady accumulation from mid-sized whales and sharks holding 1,000-100,000 ETH. Over the past five months alone, these influential investors have boosted their holdings by 14%, amidst growing confidence, according to the latest data shared by Santiment. This trend started when ETH was trading near yearly lows of around $1,800-$1,400. Such a pattern can provide strong support for the altcoin’s ongoing price momentum. Beyond these mid-sized wallets, Altcoin Vector zooms in on specific whale cohorts and found that the buying activity from these hodlers also aligns with ETH’s broader price impulse. Its data revealed that Ethereum is breaking free from the bearish compression that has weighed on its price, but a decisive push beyond $5,000 depends on renewed whale accumulation. Their analysis highlights that between mid-July and August, mega whales holding at least 10,000 ETH, followed by large whales with 1,000-10,000 ETH, significantly increased their holdings. Interestingly, these periods of accumulation coincided with the development of Ethereum’s aggregate impulse, which points to the influence of strong hands on price momentum. For ETH to clear the all-time-high zone without stalling, a similar wave of conviction-driven accumulation is essential. While there is visible spot demand for Ethereum, derivatives-led speculation has played a larger role in moving the price recently. However, a breakout above resistance could change this, and boost spot-driven confidence to spark the next strong impulse. If such momentum materializes, Ethereum may finally overcome prior highs and establish itself firmly above the $5,000 threshold.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate investor in Ethereum (ETH), recently acquired an additional $65 million worth of ETH for its treasury, marking its first investment this month. This significant purchase was executed through six separate transactions via Galaxy Digital’s over-the-counter desk. BitMine’s fresh ETH acquisition occurs amid a substantial decrease in Ether reserves across centralized exchanges, which have reached their lowest levels in three years. The overall supply has contracted by 38% since 2022, largely due to corporate treasury buy-ins and exchange-traded funds absorbing available ETH tokens. A BitMine representative confirmed that all ETH purchases were made using cash without leverage, and the company now holds over 1.5% of the total circulating Ethereum supply.

Hackers are using Ethereum smart contracts to conceal malware payloads inside seemingly benign npm packages, a tactic that turns the blockchain into a resilient command channel and complicates takedowns. ReversingLabs detailed two npm packages, colortoolsv2 and mimelib2, that read a contract on Ethereum to fetch a URL for a second-stage downloader rather than hardcoding infrastructure in the package itself, a choice that reduces static indicators and leaves fewer clues in source code reviews. The packages surfaced in July and were removed after disclosure. ReversingLabs traced their promotion to a network of GitHub repositories that posed as trading bots, including solana-trading-bot-v2, with fake stars, inflated commit histories, and sock-puppet maintainers, a social layer that steered developers toward the malicious dependency chain. The downloads were low, but the method matters. Snyk and OSV now list both packages as malicious, providing quick checks for teams auditing historical builds. The on-chain command channel echoes a broader campaign that researchers tracked in late 2024 across hundreds of npm typosquats. In that wave, packages executed install or preinstall scripts that queried an Ethereum contract, retrieved a base URL, and then downloaded OS-specific payloads named node-win.exe, node-linux, or node-macos. Checkmarx documented a core contract at 0xa1b40044EBc2794f207D45143Bd82a1B86156c6b coupled with a wallet parameter 0x52221c293a21D8CA7AFD01Ac6bFAC7175D590A84, with observed infrastructure at 45.125.67.172:1337 and 193.233.201.21:3001, among others. Phylum’s deobfuscation shows the ethers.js call to getString(address) on the same contract and logs the rotation of C2 addresses over time, a behavior that turns contract state into a movable pointer for malware retrieval. Socket independently mapped the typosquat flood and published matching IOCs, including the same contract and wallet, confirming cross-source consistency. ReversingLabs frames the 2025 packages as a continuation in technique rather than scale, with the twist that the smart contract hosts the URL for the next stage, not the payload. The GitHub distribution work, including bogus stargazers and chore commits, aims to pass casual due diligence and leverage automated dependency updates within clones of the fake repos.

Recent developments within the Ethereum ecosystem showcase significant growth and infrastructure evolution. A notable expansion is evident in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) on the Ethereum blockchain, which has far exceeded projections. By mid-2025, the total value of tokenized RWAs surged to an impressive $24 billion, a substantial leap from the $5 billion recorded in 2022, underlining Ethereum's increasing relevance in traditional finance sectors.

Infrastructure enhancement received a major boost with ETHZilla depositing $100 million into liquid restaking protocol Ether.fi. This substantial investment serves to strengthen Ethereum's restaking ecosystem, a critical component bolstering security and trust across various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, solidifying Ethereum's foundational role within DeFi.

Simultaneously, Ethereum's application layer continues to diversify. The launch of xStocks introduces the capability for 24/7 trading of tokenized traditional assets directly on the Ethereum network. Utilizing smart contracts, this platform enables continuous transactions for popular stocks like Nvidia and Amazon, effectively merging the efficiency and accessibility of blockchain technology with exposure to conventional equity markets.

Organizational activity also signals ongoing engagement, as the Ethereum Foundation reportedly plans to execute a 10,000 ETH transaction. This move follows a recent transaction tied to the SharpLink deal, indicating strategic management of resources within the foundation.

Furthermore, the Ethereum ecosystem benefits from ongoing regulatory developments and technical upgrades. These elements contribute to a supportive environment, fostering innovation and adoption. Traders and analysts are closely monitoring these combined factors, focusing on fundamental strengths such as growing adoption in traditional finance, DeFi infrastructure advancements, and expanding utility through applications like tokenized asset trading.