Even with that dip, the token ended the quarter up 66.6%, hitting an all-time high of $4,953.73 in August on the back of steady accumulation by corporate treasuries and renewed retail activity.
The most significant driver of Ethereum’s rally during the reporting period was the throng of institutional investors in the digital asset.
“ETPs and ETH treasury companies [could buy] $20 billion of ETH in the next year, or 5.33 million ETH at today’s prices.”
Meanwhile, institutional flows were not the only driver of ETH’s strong performance in the quarter.
In the third quarter, Ethereum’s on-chain activity surged, reflecting its central role in the DeFi sector.
That growth tracks closely with ETH’s price action, reinforcing the view that network activity directly supports valuation.
Token Terminal data paints a similar picture by pointing out that applications built on Ethereum, such as stablecoins, DEXs, and real-world assets, currently hold about $355 billion in user assets. At the same time, ETH trades at roughly 1.44 times the ecosystem’s total value locked (TVL).
According to the firm, the market capitalization of tokenized assets on Ethereum has consistently set a floor for ETH’s valuation.
So, as more assets, from stablecoins to tokenized treasuries, enter the chain, ETH’s market cap rises in tandem. This relationship suggests that Ethereum’s growth is not just speculative but grounded in expanding on-chain utility.
