Ethereum (ETH) Soars Past $2,600 as Wall Street Goes Full Crypto Degen

ETH bulls just wrecked another resistance level—turns out even suits love gambling with digital monopoly money.

Institutional FOMO hits ludicrous speed

BlackRock's ETF application wasn't enough. Now every hedge fund manager who mocked crypto in 2022 is quietly allocating 3% of their portfolio 'for research purposes.'

Liquidity tsunami incoming?

With CME open interest hitting records and Grayscale's discount vanishing, the smart money's betting this rally has legs. Or maybe they just finally read the whitepaper.

One thing's clear: Ethereum's eating Wall Street's lunch while traditional finance still tries to understand what an 'L2' is.

TLDR

• Ethereum surged 6.3% to $2,600 after breaking above $2,590 resistance level
• Over 6 million ETH added to non-exchange wallets in June, driving accumulation addresses to 22.7 million
• Liquid staking reached a record 35.5 million ETH as institutional activity increased
• Open Interest jumped 10.47% to $19.27 billion, showing growing trader conviction
• Short liquidations triggered below $2,500 created momentum through a squeeze effect

Ethereum broke above $2,590 after weeks of strong on-chain signals and institutional activity. The price surge came as the cryptocurrency faced recent stagnation.

At press time, ETH was trading at $2,600 after a 6.3% daily surge. Trading volume reached $25.37 billion, marking a 59.46% increase over the previous 24 hours.

The breakout follows a historic month of accumulation activity. Over 6 million ETH were added to non-exchange wallets in June alone.

This activity drove accumulation addresses to 22.7465 million total addresses. The data reflects long-term investor conviction as institutions positioned for upside movement.

Liquid staking reached a record 35.5643 million ETH during the same period. The combined metrics show institutional and retail alignment on ETH’s direction.

Spot Taker volume over the past 90 days reveals dominant buying activity. Market participants are increasingly willing to execute at higher prices, indicating bullish sentiment.

This trend suggests both institutional and retail traders expect further upside. Such spot activity tends to precede larger directional moves when supported by other on-chain metrics.

Open Interest Surge Shows Growing Conviction

Open Interest surged to 19.27 billion, marking a 10.47% increase. This signals that more traders are entering the market with conviction.

The rise in Open Interest aligns with the spot market’s bullish signals. When Open Interest grows alongside positive price action, it often means new capital is entering on long positions.

The coordinated growth in both spot and derivatives markets underlines confidence in ETH’s near-term strength. However, this also opens the door to future volatility if over-leveraged positions get squeezed.

Liquidation Cascade Fuels Momentum

According to the Binance ETH/USDT liquidation heatmap, large clusters of liquidations were triggered below the $2,500 zone. The breakout above this level wiped out numerous high-leverage short positions.

As ETH surged to $2,597, liquidation bands became densely concentrated between $2,480 and $2,510. This zone may now act as a strong support region.

Analyst Michael van de Poppe highlighted that ethereum overcame a crucial resistance barrier. He believes that as long as the price holds above $2,520, the next target is around $3,000.

$ETH broke through the resistance.

That's a very strong signal and I'd love to see it hold.

It's outperforming Bitcoin on the recent move and the entire ecosystem is doing extremely well.

If this holds, I think we'll see $3,000 next. pic.twitter.com/x7fwcwW4v1

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) July 3, 2025

The relative strength index (RSI) of Ethereum stands at 57.30, indicating a somewhat bullish market. The 14-day RSI level stands at 46.79, showing Ethereum is not overbought yet.

Analyst Daan crypto Trades revealed that ETH has broken out of its local range. He warned that ETH bulls should not lose the support around $2,520.

A pullback might happen if the price drops below this point. In this case, ETH could trade back to the lower price range with support at $2,310.

Both the NVT Ratio and Stock-to-Flow metrics spiked sharply during the recent move. The NVT surge suggests that ETH’s current price is outpacing actual network activity.

The Stock-to-Flow ratio’s steep climb reflects growing scarcity but not necessarily growing utility. These metrics together imply caution may be warranted if growth in real adoption doesn’t follow.