The institutional capital flow into Ethereum [$ETH] has not slowed. A recent report explored how the biggest corporate Ethereum holder in the world, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, which holds over 5 million $ETH, has a cleaner balance sheet for not taking on debt to acquire $ETH more aggressively.
The Bitmine holdings have an average cost basis of $2,336 per Ethereum. Curiously, that was not far from the current market price of $ETH.
Towards the end of April, the $ETH spot ETF flows turned negative but have flipped positive in May once more. Combined with the promise of further purchases from the digital asset treasury, Bitmine, can Ethereum rally to $3,000 in 2026?
Ethereum trend shift met by realized price resistance
In a post on X, crypto analyst Ali Martinez pointed out that a new uptrend was underway. In mid-March, the SuperTrend indicator had flipped bullishly, and the leading altcoin has rallied 30% since then.
It does face a substantial barrier around $2.4k. The realized price at $2,380 has been overcome at press time, but this feat was achieved three weeks ago. What needs to be achieved now is that the price has to stay above this level and flip it from resistance to support.
If the buyers can keep the price rally going, it would signal a shift in the market. The previously underwater holders would be in profit once again, and the profit-taking and market-exit incentives need to be balanced by supply absorption in the form of steady demand.
The road to $3k and the thorns along the way
At press time, the 7-day Moving Average of the Taker Buy-Sell volume has climbed above 1. This meant that aggressive buying volume was greater than the selling volume. If sustained, it can keep the current rally going.
There were some obstacles on the way. The 6-month liquidation heatmap from CoinGlass showed multiple clusters of dense short liquidations from $2.5k to $2.9k, with another band of short liquidations at $3.5k.
The $2.8k-$2.9k was also a significant zone on the Cost Basis Distribution Heatmap. This meant that the closer $ETH gets to $2.9k, the more incentive buyers from these levels will have to sell. Traders should remember that these market participants hold sizeable $ETH amounts and can challenge or even reverse the bullish trajectory.
The short liquidations from $2.5k to $2.9k can push $ETH higher, but aggressive demand is needed to keep the uptrend going.
Bitcoin [BTC] was above $82k but remains within a cyclical bear market. As things stand, an Ethereum move to $3,000 does not seem likely.
Final Summary
- Ethereum was above its realized price at $2,380, and aggressive buying might sustain the uptrend.
- The cluster of short liquidations can provide short-term momentum, but the longer-term bear market means a rally to $3k could be extremely difficult.
