Ethereum Price Forecast: Bernstein predicts buying pressure from banks amid $2.18 billion ETH ETF milestone

Ethereum price today: $3,780

• The Ether Machine plans to launch a $1.5 billion ETH treasury upon the completion of a merger with Dynamix Corporation.
• Ethereum ETFs register their largest weekly inflows after drawing in $2.18 billion.
• Bernstein analysts predict banks and fintechs will continue buying ETH.
• ETH could test its all-time high of $4,878 if it smashes the $4,100 key level.

Ethereum (ETH) trades near $3,800 following the upcoming launch of The Ether Machine's $1.5 billion ETH treasury and a record weekly inflow of $2.18 billion into US spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Meanwhile, Bernstein analysts predict that ETH could see sustained strong buying pressure from banking institutions and fintechs.

The Ether Machine reveals $1.5 billion Ethereum treasury

The Ether Machine announced it will go public with a 400,000 ETH treasury worth over $1.5 billion, according to a press release on Monday. The move follows a merger between The Ether Reserve and Nasdaq-listed Dynamix Corporation (DYNX), a special purpose acquisition vehicle, which will see the new company list on the NASDAQ under the ticker ETHM, subject to shareholder approval.

The company's ETH treasury is spearheaded by an investment of 169,984 ETH from its co-founder and Chairman Andrew Keys and an $800 million upsized offering with investors including Pantera Capital, Kraken, Electric Capital and Archetype. It plans to generate returns through a combination of staking, re-staking and decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies.

The Ether Machine joins a growing list of companies that have adopted an ETH treasury in recent months, including SharpLink Gaming, BitMine and Bit Digital.

Bernstein says ETH is having its momentum following record weekly inflows

Meanwhile, US spot Ethereum ETFs broke their weekly inflows record for the second consecutive week, drawing in $2.18 billion last week, surpassing the previous week's milestone of $908 million. The products have now stretched their inflow streak to ten consecutive weeks, totaling $5.01 billion, according to SoSoValue data.

The strong performance follows President Trump signing the GENIUS bill, which regulates stablecoins, into law on Friday.

"Ethereum is having its moment," considering it's the dominant stablecoin rail, Bernstein analysts said in a note on Monday.

Ethereum commands nearly 50% of the global $260 billion stablecoin market, per DefiLlama data.

"This is not a crypto cycle of the boom-bust kind [...] This is a blockchain financial services cycle," the analysts wrote. "Banks, payment players, and fintechs would continue buying operational [Ethereum] to pay transaction fees for deploying stablecoins and tokenized assets on the blockchain." 

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH has to smash $4,100 to test its all-time high

Ethereum has seen $133.51 million in futures liquidations over the past 24 hours, comprising $74.48 million and $59.03 million in liquidated long and short positions, respectively, according to Coinglass data.

After rising by over 50% in the past two weeks and breaking several key resistance levels along the way, ETH has moved above the $3,750 resistance level. This could put the top altcoin on track to test the upper boundary of nearly a four-year symmetrical triangle just below the $4,000 mark. The triangle's upper boundary also coincides with the target of a bullish pennant that ETH has been developing since May.

ETH/USDT weekly chart

A firm move above the symmetrical triangle and the $4,100 resistance level could send ETH to test its all-time high resistance at $4,878.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) are in overbought territory, indicating sustained bullish momentum — but with high chances of a pullback.

A weekly candlestick close below the support near $3,200 will invalidate the thesis and potentially send ETH toward $2,850.