ETH return expected | Without a bank

ETH is no stranger to volatility. From its very first weeks, around August 2015, it had already recorded several increases of 50%. And as Ethereum has remained obscure to all but some crypto diehards.

In the modern era, since Ethereum took off, we have naturally seen more catalyst-driven moves. For example, the peak of the DeFi + NFT craze in May 2021 propelled ETH’s initial run to $4,300, while the arrival of the Pectra upgrade four years later caused a 1D surge of +21%.

More recently, however, people have joked that ETH is a true stablecoin. It’s been trading mostly flat in the $1,800-$2,000 range in 2026, which, yes, is essentially the same range it was trading in in the summer of 2021. In other words, it’s been significantly outperformed as of late.

This This is why ETH ripping +20% yesterday, August 19, seemed like a return to form, or if not, at least a return to respect. Not only was this one of ETH’s largest 1D surges in the modern era, but it was also ETH that outperformed for a change, having outperformed virtually all of the top 100 coins of the day.

We haven’t seen this in a while. However, like us to have seen before, this decision had important catalysts, not the least of which was yesterday’s decision White House Crypto Summitwhere President Trump called for passage of the Clarity Act and said (Again) that the United States was considering acquiring reserves of BTC and other cryptocurrencies (which, if true, would likely include ETH).

These statements, combined with expanding Treasury buybacks and ETH ETF spot inflows, gave rise to green candles, which in turn triggered a massive short squeeze that liquidated approximately $1 billion of ETH shorts. As these short positions were liquidated, traders were forced to buy back ETH to close their bets, and this forced covering further added more purchasing pressure and production still more green candles.

Of course, while a big green day did some good for ETH holders after a long drought, I think it’s fair to say that ETH still appears oversold relative to Bitcoin and Ethereum fundamentals in general.

Indeed, today the market capitalization of BTC ($1.45 billion) is approximately 5 times that of ETH ($281 billion), but does it offer 5 times more utility or potential? Absolutely not, and that has never been true in my opinion.

In the entire crypto space, Ethereum has the strongest smart contract architecture today. The largest developer community and widest range of development tools. The largest DeFi ecosystem, the largest NFT ecosystem. The most apps, the most liquidity, the most stablecoins, the most tokenized real-world assets, the most TradFi experiences.

ETH price may have struggled recently, but its fundamentals and possibilities have quietly excelled, solidifying itself as best-in-class in almost every meaningful category. Ethereum is a juggernaut today that people would not have thought possible 10 years ago so quickly.

So we can say that the best thing about yesterday’s price rally is that it marked a recognition and correction towards the real strength of Ethereum and its dominant position, from which ETH felt detached for a while.

And that’s how it happens sometimes. ETH has struggled recently and ETH seeing its best days ahead is not paradoxical. There are so many complicating factors at play in crypto that coins often behave as if they were wild dragons—that is, in impenetrable and unpredictable ways.

Dealing with this kind of uncertainty can feel like an ordeal. Then again, what is a test if not a challenge to determine if you are worthy for the future? I feel like yesterday was just the first step to the next big thing. We’ll see, of course, but I like the ETH ratings here.