Ethereum

Harvard University Endowment Fund sold its entire $86.8 million position in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) in Q1, while cutting its BTC exposure by about 50% to around $117 million. ETH fund outflows extended beyond Q1, with ETHA showing $922 million in YTD redemptions and ETH trading near $2.1K after falling 12% from early May’s $2.4K high. Market sentiment readings slipped to 28, reflecting heightened fear around Ethereum-linked headlines and ongoing capital rotation.

Ethereum (ETH) was trading in the $2,095–$2,138 Fibonacci "golden zone" at press time following a controlled pullback. Exchange data showed a rising share of whale-held supply sitting on exchanges since May 5, while withdrawals over the past 24 hours fell to a monthly low. The mixed flow signals leave ETH at a decision point, with a bounce needing stronger spot demand and renewed outflows for confirmation.

Despite Ether falling 28% in 2026, analysts argue Ethereum's lead in DeFi, stablecoins and staking supports a long-term accumulation thesis. The network is said to host roughly $43 billion in DeFi liquidity and more than $165 billion in stablecoins, while staked ETH is near 39.1 million coins across over 896,000 validators. Some traders also highlight historical buy zones from $1,000 to $5,000 and model-based "accumulation zone" signals as ETH trades below key long-term averages.

On May 22, a Hyperliquid trader known as 'Evaded' recorded over $7.5 million in unrealized profit from long positions in ZEC and HYPE opened less than 96 hours earlier. He then shifted into a new 25x leveraged long on 18,100 ETH with $38.63 million in notional exposure, a setup that could be liquidated after an adverse move of roughly 4%.

Ethereum (ETH) is down nearly 30% so far this year and struggled to sustain rebounds during May as frustration built across social media. Santiment says the selloff reflects multiple bearish narratives rather than one single shock, including weakening sentiment ratios and ETF outflows during May. The firm adds that extreme pessimism can sometimes mark exhaustion and set up a contrarian turning-point risk.

Kelp DAO reported a $292 million loss on April 18, 2026, after attackers siphoned 116,500 rsETH through a vulnerability tied to its LayerZero-based cross-chain bridge. The exploiter then used 89,567 rsETH as Aave collateral to borrow $190.86 million in wrapped Ether before markets repriced the asset. Aave later saw $8.45B in deposit outflows over the next 48 hours, alongside more than $13B leaving DeFi.

On Thursday, spot bitcoin ETFs posted net outflows of $100.82 million, while ether ETFs recorded a $32.58 million decline for a ninth straight session. In contrast, XRP ETFs brought in $8.88 million led by Canary's XRPC, and Solana ETFs added $3.86 million via Fidelity's FSOL. Trading value totaled $1.58 billion for bitcoin ETFs and $416.16 million for ether ETFs, with net assets ending at $101.06 billion and $12.21 billion, respectively.

Mark Cuban said he sold most of his Bitcoin after concluding it did not behave like a crisis hedge during a period of weaker fiat confidence and rising geopolitical risk. He described BTC as "not the hedge I expected it to be," as Bitcoin traded around $77,663 in mid-May 2026, about 38% under its early-October 2025 peak of $126,000. Cuban also said he is shifting more capital toward Ethereum than Bitcoin.

Bitcoin hovered above $77,000 as more than $1.8 billion in BTC and ETH options were set to expire on May 22. Derivatives positioning showed longer-term bullish targets near $90,000 even as institutions added short-term downside hedges into month-end.

Wells Fargo increased its spot Ethereum ETF exposure in Q1 2026, lifting iShares Ethereum Trust holdings from about 672,600 shares in Q4 2025 to nearly 1.1 million, while also growing its Bitwise Ethereum ETF position to around 257,000 shares. Separately, JPMorgan Chase filed to launch a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum under the ticker JLTXX, designed to hold U.S. Treasurys and overnight repo backed by Treasurys and cash.