Ethereum rebounds 3%, tokenization rekindles market momentum

The cryptocurrency market has been mixed recently, but Ethereum stands out

The cryptocurrency market has been divided in the past few days, but Ethereum rose 3% between Thursday and Friday. This rise comes amid the rise of a wave of tokenization, the successful launch of the Robinhood chain, and the continued buying of many companies. Although the momentum is improving, breaking the US$1800 mark is still out of reach. On-chain data and derivatives market indicators remain weak, limiting short-term growth potential.

Quick overview of key points

Ethereum rose 3% in a week, thanks to the rise of tokenization and institutional buying.

The Robinhood chain has attracted US$106 million in deposits and strengthened the Ethereum ecosystem.

Ethereum has a 47% share of the real-world asset market, consolidating its leading position in tokenization.

On-chain indicators and derivatives markets remain weak, preventing prices from continuing to exceed $1800.

BitMine bought a total of 198,370 Ethereum units in 30 days, reflecting the continued buying of institutional investors.

Tokenization and Robinhood chains have driven Ethereum's rise, rekindling optimism in the market

Ethereum's recent rise is first based on the rapid development of asset tokenization related measures. Robinhood has launched Robinhood Chain, a second-tier solution that uses Ethereum as the primary fuel cost. This new infrastructure has quickly increased user interest in the Ethereum ecosystem. At the same time, the platform is expanding its tokenized stock business to international customers, further consolidating the adoption of infrastructure compatible with Ethereum virtual machines.

The following key data reflects this trend:

The Robinhood chain has recorded US$106 million in deposits.

120 countries now have access to tokenized stocks offered by Robinhood.

Ethereum has a 47% market share in real-world assets.

The total lock-in value of the Ethereum network reaches US$260 billion.

Ethereum has a market value of US$210 billion, which is below the total lock-in value level of the network.

Tokenization is continuing to strengthen Ethereum's dominant position in the real-world asset market. In addition to stablecoins, assets such as Tether Gold, Ondo U.S. dollar yield coins and Franklin Templeton's iBENJI government bonds also reflect this development. STRCx, a tokenized stock from Strategy, and Ondo's CRCLon, are also major reference targets in this space.

This development sparked discussions among professional analysts. Leon Waidmann, director of research at Lisk, believes that the gap between the total lock-in value of the network and the market value of Ethereum suggests that current valuations are relatively lower than those seen during the 2022 bear market. This interpretation sparked discussion about the current positioning of assets, but did not change the fundamentals of the network.

On-chain indicators continue to limit the rebound momentum

Although Ethereum prices have improved, multiple indicators show that Internet activity is still not as good as before. Second-tier solutions continue to develop and institutional investment remains stable, but overall demand on blockchain remains limited. The bear market in 2026 has reduced activity in multiple areas, while some competing blockchains have strengthened their layout in synthetic perpetual futures and automated revenue vaults.

The following on-chain data reflects the slowdown in Ethereum activity:

Weekly revenue from decentralized applications was US$11 million, compared with US$20 million in the first quarter of 2026.

Sky: Weekly revenue is US$3.1 million.

Titan Builder: Earnings $2.4 million a week.

Chainlink: Weekly income of US$1.1 million.

The number of active addresses dropped from 5.4 million to 3.2 million, confirming a decline in activity on the chain.

Weekly revenue of Ethereum decentralized applications (US dollars, left axis) versus number of active addresses (right axis). Data source: DefiLlama

This change limits Ethereum's ability to immediately continue its rebound. Even though the fundamentals of tokenization remain solid, the growth rate of network usage indicators has not kept pace. Therefore, investors continue to pay attention to these indicators to determine whether recent price increases can accompany the continued recovery of activity on Ethereum.

Institutional buying provides new support for the market

The derivatives market also sent more cautious signals. According to Laevitas, the annualized funding rate for Ethereum perpetual contracts fell back to 3% on Saturday, compared with 12% the day before. This level is still below the neutral threshold of 6%, indicating weak demand for long positions. The change suggests that traders remain cautious despite recent price increases.

Annualized funding rate for Ethereum Perpetual Contract. Data source: Laevitas

At the same time, institutional capital flows continue to provide support for the market. Arkham Intelligence found that 20,500 Ethereums worth approximately $36 million were transferred from Galaxy Digital to a new wallet. This operation is consistent with a previously observed pattern of Tom Lee buying through BitMine Immersion. In the past 30 days, BitMine has purchased a total of 198,370 Ethereum units, bringing the total value of its reserves to US$10.3 billion.

These acquisitions provided additional support to the market, but were not enough to offset the caution signals from technical and on-chain indicators. Tokenization is expanding network usage scenarios, while institutional investment maintains stable demand. However, actual blockchain activity is still lower than the level at the beginning of the year.

Future trends will depend on the balance between these factors. If tokenization continues to develop and institutional buying remains stable, Ethereum may gain a solid foundation. Conversely, to achieve sustained recovery, improvements in on-chain indicators and derivatives markets are needed to confirm that demand across the ecosystem is picking up.