Ether’s (ETH) long-term investment case is drawing fresh attention as Ethereum continues to lead in key areas of onchain activity and decentralized finance, despite the altcoin losing 28% of its value this year. The network still hosts roughly $43 billion in DeFi liquidity, more than $165 billion in stablecoins, and about 55% of tokenized assets tracked across public blockchains.
Data from Token Terminal also shows that the market capitalization of tokenized exchange-traded funds (ETFs) exceeds $400 million, with Ethereum accounting for 76.9% of the market share.
Referencing the data above, crypto analyst Tanaka said,
“These are the pieces I believe will continue to lead the market in the mid to long term. And if we look at the current data, Ethereum is still the most important settlement layer for these narratives.”
Share of onchain between different chains. Source: X
Ethereum staking activity has also continued to climb despite the 28% price decline in 2026. Network data showed staked ETH reached nearly 39.1 million coins, or about 32% of the total ETH supply, spread across more than 896,000 active validators.
Validator entry demand also remained elevated, with over 3.49 million ETH waiting in the staking entry queue, resulting in a wait time of more than 60 days, while the exit supply remains at a minimal 7,424.
Ethereum validator queue. Source: Validator Queue
The long validator queue matters because it shows that large amounts of ETH continue to move into staking despite weaker prices this year.
CryptoQuant data added also highlights an Ether accumulation trend. ETH inflows into accumulation addresses reached 248,400 ETH on May 20, marking the strongest single-day inflow since Jan. 6. These wallets are often associated with long-term holders, as they exhibit limited selling activity.
ETH inflows into accumulation addresses. Source: CryptoQuant
Related: Harvard dumps entire ETH position after just one quarter
ETH analysts watch the historical buy zone
Trader Crypto Bullet said Ether’s weekly chart still shows a multi-year accumulation range between $1,000 and $5,000. The analyst views the past several years as a period in which buyers slowly built positions before a larger trend developed.
Crypto Bullet said ETH could still revisit the $1,000 to $1,300 area, calling it a possible final capitulation zone before the next cycle expansion. The analyst also mapped out long-term upside targets of $7,700- $14,000 for the 2027–2029 period.
ETH/USD, one-week chart. Source: X
Onchain analyst Rei pointed to Ether’s position on the two-year simple moving average multiplier model from Alphractal. The model compares ETH price to its average over the past two years to identify periods when ETH traded above or below its average.
Ethereum recently dropped below the chart’s two-year SMA x1 band, which is the baseline average price of ETH over the past two years. Traders often view the x1 level as a fair-value zone during normal market conditions.
Higher bands like x1.42 and x2.65 have historically appeared during overheated phases of a bull market when ETH traded far above its long-term average.
The price is now moving closer to the lower 2Y SMA/2 band, shown in purple on the chart. Rei said,
“History shows that whenever $ETH approaches or touches this zone (like in late 2022), the market usually establishes a highly reliable, cyclical “accumulation zone.”
Ethereum: 2Y SMA multiplier indicator. Source: X
Related: Ether taker volume turns negative for first time in two months: Will ETH fall under $2K next?