Ether (ETH) gained 3% between Thursday and Friday, outperforming the broader crypto market, but failed to break above $1,800 amid weak onchain and derivatives data. The move was driven by growing tokenization, Robinhood Chain's success, and institutional accumulation, yet mixed signals leave ETH vulnerable to a retest of $1,700.
Tokenization and Robinhood Chain fuel optimism
The launch of Robinhood Chain, a layer-2 network that uses ETH as its native gas token, has boosted investor sentiment. The blockchain has attracted $106 million in bridge deposits, while Robinhood offers tokenized stocks in 120 countries, strengthening the EVM-compatible ecosystem.
Ethereum dominates the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market with a 47% share, according to rwa.xyz data. Excluding stablecoins, notable tokenized assets include SKY's Tether Gold, Ondo US Dollar Yield, and Franklin Templeton's government bonds. Leon Waidmann, head of research at Lisk, noted that Ethereum's total value locked (TVL) of $260 billion has surpassed Ether's market cap of $210 billion for the first time, signaling that ETH may be underpriced relative to historical valuations.
Onchain and derivatives data show weakness
Despite these positive developments, onchain metrics point to stagnation. Decentralized applications on Ethereum generated only $11 million in weekly revenue, down from $20 million in the first quarter of 2026. Active addresses also fell to 3.2 million from 5.4 million in Q1, according to DefiLlama.
ETH perpetual futures annualized funding rate dropped to 3% on Saturday, below the 6% neutral threshold, indicating weak demand for bullish positions. This contrasts with the 12% peak seen on Friday, suggesting that bulls lack confidence. However, institutional inflows may explain the recent price gains. Arkham Intelligence flagged a 20,500 ETH withdrawal worth $36 million from Galaxy Digital to a new wallet, matching patterns of BitMine purchases. BitMine has added 198,370 ETH in the past 30 days and now holds $10.3 billion in reserves.
Mixed signals leave ETH in limbo
Strong fundamentals from tokenization and institutional accumulation are offset by weak onchain activity and derivatives metrics. While a retest of $1,700 is not justified given BitMine's aggressive accumulation pace, the lack of bullish conviction in derivatives markets keeps Ether's upside limited. The price remains stuck below $1,800, awaiting a clearer catalyst.