Ethereum (ETH) is experiencing a broad rally, with its price climbing approximately 6.2% over the past week to around $3,176. Despite this surge, it remains about 35% below its August all-time high of nearly $4,946.
This upward movement is being fueled by developments across several key areas.
ETFs See Significant Inflows, Led by BlackRock
Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded substantial combined inflows of approximately $140.2 million on December 3rd. This rebound across various issuers follows a period of mixed performance, according to data from Farside Investors.
BlackRock's ETH ETF product attracted around $53 million, while Fidelity's saw approximately $34.4 million. Positive inflows were also reported for trusts from Bitwise and Grayscale.
Concurrently, charts shared by Crypto Rover indicate that ETH has reclaimed its weekly 50-period moving average, which is currently hovering near $3,195. Furthermore, the ETH/BTC trading pair has broken a three-month downtrend, signaling a potential shift in capital from Bitcoin back to Ether.
Corporate Treasuries Increase ETH Holdings
On the corporate front, Ethereum treasury firm BitMine purchased an additional $150 million worth of ETH on Wednesday, contributing to a roughly 15% increase in its stock price during December. BitMine, chaired by Tom Lee and supported by prominent investors including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Cathie Wood's ARK Invest, now holds over 3% of the total ETH supply and aims to reach 5%. This strategy is described as an "Ethereum accumulation" in anticipation of upcoming network upgrades.
"We stepped up our weekly purchases of ETH by 39%," Lee stated.
Lee also expressed optimism about the broader crypto market, suggesting it has "found its bearings again." He anticipates the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates on December 10th as it concludes quantitative tightening. This macroeconomic backdrop is historically favorable for risk assets like ETH.
Fusaka Upgrade Enhances Scaling Capabilities
These positive developments coincide with the launch of Ethereum's Fusaka hard fork. This upgrade, the network's second major change this year, is designed to further reduce transaction costs on layer-2 chains, improve user experience, and strengthen the protocol against denial-of-service attacks. A key feature of the upgrade, Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS), has the potential to increase Ethereum's blob capacity by up to eightfold.
"It’s this new technique that people have been working on for a very long time," said Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes during a recent livestream. "It lets us scale while not compromising on the values that are so important to Ethereum."
While ETH's price is currently above $3,100 and remains modest compared to its peak, this period marks a rare instance where market flows, corporate treasuries, technological advancements, and macroeconomic factors are all aligning in a supportive direction for the cryptocurrency.