On Tuesday, the price of Ethereum saw a notable rise, climbing 6.5% and regaining the critical $3,300 mark for the first time in almost a month. This has allowed Ethereum to surpass its peers among the top ten cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization, demonstrating a nearly 12% rally for the leading altcoin over the past week.
Demand for ETH is increasing
Bull Theory analysts attribute this resurgence to several key factors, including significant institutional interest in Ethereum. The company highlighted BitMine, which holds the largest public company ETH collection, as a major player in this recovery phase.
In a recent social media update on X (formerly Twitter), analysts pointed out that demand for ETH is increasing as Wall Street quietly builds on the Ethereum platform.
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Notably, major financial institutions are starting to make substantial moves in the Ethereum space. BlackRock, which manages $13.5 trillion, is launching tokenized funds and has filed for a staked Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Other notable players include JPMorgan with $4 trillion in assets, Deutsche Bank with $1.1 trillion, and Standard Chartered with $800 billion. These companies are developing tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) specifically on Ethereum and its Layer 2 (L2) solutions.
Additionally, well-known financial entities such as Amundi, HSBC, BNY Mellon, Coinbase (COIN), Kraken and Robinhood (HOOD) are integrating Ethereum into their operations for functions such as custody, settlement and roll-up infrastructure.
As a result, these large companies own and ETH staking to generate yield, significantly increasing the demand for altcoin. BitMine, for example, expects to earn over $400 million annually from its staking position.
Could Ethereum Price Reach $12,000?
Such institutional involvement has led market experts like Tom Lee to speculate that the price of Ethereum could potentially reach $12,000 by 2026, due to growing demand for staking and intensifying tokenization efforts.
To add to the momentum, Arkham reported that Tom Lee’s Ethereum treasury company has acquired 138,452 ETH since last week, valued at approximately $431.97 million. BitMine currently holds $12.05 billion in ETH and has an additional $1 billion allocated for other purchases.
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In a different development that could further strengthen the price of Ethereum, Chris MacDonald, analyst for The Motley Fool, highlighted reports that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has confirmed that US banks can now legally conduct “risk-free principal” transactions in crypto assets.
The analyst claimed that this new regulatory approval could lead to an influx of capital into digital assets, which would likely benefit the price and holders of Ethereum, as well as other major cryptocurrencies.
At the time of writing, the Ethereum price is trading at $3,325. Despite the recent gains, the price is still nearly 33% below the all-time high of $4,946 reached earlier this year.
Featured image of DALL-E, chart by TradingView.com
