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Ethereum Extends Six-Month Slide as Institutions Build and Developers Press Scalability Overhaul

Major finance firms keep launching on-chain projects on Ethereum despite a six‑month price slump.

Overview

  • ETH has fallen about 36% in 2026 and trades near $2,000, roughly 60% below its 2025 peak, with six consecutive monthly losses and February DEX volume down to $56.5 billion versus Solana’s $95.5 billion.
  • JP Morgan Asset Management, Citi, Deutsche Bank, and BlackRock have recently rolled out Ethereum-based initiatives ranging from tokenized funds to bank-issued stablecoins.
  • ETH exchange-traded funds recorded about $80.5 million in weekly inflows even as BlackRock sold roughly $41.8 million worth of ETH during the same period.
  • Ethereum retains the deepest capital base with about 57% of TVL across chains, rising to roughly 65% when layer‑2s are included, and it holds around 68% of tokenized real‑world assets.
  • Vitalik Buterin is advancing base‑layer upgrades such as parallel block verification and a ZK‑EVM, and he says AI could speed development and bolster security testing.