Ethereum's Price Surges 18% Amid Institutional Accumulation

Ethereum and Solana have both demonstrated remarkable revenue multiples, with Ethereum achieving a peak network revenue of approximately $1.83 billion in November 2021, resulting in an annualized figure of around $219 billion. This positioned Ethereum’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) at $578.71 billion, showcasing a valuation multiple of 26.42 times. Conversely, Solana marked its peak price in January 2025, with a monthly network revenue of $550 million, equating to an annualized revenue of about $6.61 billion. At that time, Solana’s FDV stood at $177 billion, resulting in a slightly higher valuation multiple of 26.77 times. These insights offer valuable perspectives on the correlation between cryptocurrency valuations and network revenues, critical for informed investment strategies.

Ethereum (ETH) has experienced a significant recovery since early May 2025, rising from approximately $2,200 to over $2,600. However, despite this strong price rebound, various on-chain signals and market sentiment indicators suggest that ETH has not yet entered its true breakout phase. The current rally appears to be driven primarily by institutional accumulation, with common indicators of an “altseason” yet to emerge clearly. One key indicator of the Ethereum ecosystem's activity is the gas fee level. According to data, average gas prices have remained low, often below 25 gwei for several consecutive weeks. This is modest compared to previous bull markets, where gas prices often exceeded 100 gwei due to surging demand for decentralized applications (dApps), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance (DeFi) activity. The low gas fees indicate that major trends in the Ethereum ecosystem, such as NFTs, DeFi, SocialFi, or memecoins, have yet to generate enough pressure to push the network into congestion. While ETH’s price is rising, actual on-chain activity remains cautious, suggesting that the current rally lacks the retail-driven fear of missing out (FOMO) typically seen at cycle peaks.

Institutional capital continues to flow into ETH through investment vehicles such as the Grayscale Ethereum Trust and CME futures. The growing accumulation by whale wallets and institutional players suggests increasing long-term confidence in ETH. However, this does not necessarily mean that ETH is ready to soar. The Altseason Index, which measures the relative strength of altcoins compared to Bitcoin, is still hovering below 30, indicating that the market has not yet entered a full-blown FOMO phase for tokens smaller than ETH. In previous cycles, this index typically had to exceed 75 to confirm that an altseason had truly begun. With altseason still absent, it suggests that ETH, as the leading representative, has yet to reach its final euphoric peak in this cycle. This leaves room for ETH to continue rising, but the market needs more time for a clearer rotation of capital from Bitcoin into higher-risk assets.

Data from derivatives markets also show a significant shift in Ethereum’s positioning. The 24-hour Long/Short ratio is currently near parity, while top traders on major exchanges are showing a clear bias toward long positions. In addition, total short liquidations over the past 24 hours reached a significant amount, while long liquidations were higher. This suggests that institutional players may be gradually abandoning a bearish short-term outlook and instead waiting for stronger signals to confirm a sustained bullish trend in ETH. The market currently appears to be in a phase of positioning and recalibration rather than another large-scale short wave.

Ethereum remains the foundational platform for many of the most promising trends of this new cycle, including restaking, Layer 2 networks, next-gen DeFi, and memecoins. However, none of these trends has truly exploded to the point of lifting the entire ecosystem. This reinforces the view that ETH remains in the final accumulation phase of a mid-cycle, rather than having reached a cycle top. In conclusion, recent ETH price gains are a positive sign, but they are not enough to confirm that Ethereum’s growth cycle has peaked. With low gas fees, a weak altseason index, muted ecosystem activity, and growing institutional short positions, ETH is likely still in a pre-breakout phase. This means long-term investors may still have an opportunity to accumulate ETH at reasonable prices before the cycle truly tops out. At the same time, caution is warranted in the short term, as the market has yet to fully “mature” in this current rally phase. Once trends like restaking, Layer 2, or next-gen DeFi gain stronger momentum and retail capital flows back in, that’s when ETH could enter a true acceleration phase. In that case, today’s $2,500 may only be a temporary stop on a much longer journey throughout the 2025 cycle.