Ether rises as BitMine buying and Robinhood’s layer-2 lift sentiment

Ether has climbed 15% in five days after touching $1,500 on June 26, putting the $2,000 level back on traders’ screens. Cointelegraph attributed the rebound to Ethereum-specific catalysts, including BitMine Immersion’s ETH purchases, testing for the Glamsterdam network upgrade and Robinhood’s new Ethereum layer-2 chain.

ETH recently traded around $1,811, according to market data cited by Cointelegraph, while Bitcoin was listed near $63,447. Over the past 30 days, Ether beat total crypto market capitalization by 7%, based on TradingView data referenced in the report.

For retail investors, the move is a reminder that crypto prices can respond to both market-wide risk appetite and project-specific developments. In this case, the focus is less on Bitcoin and more on whether Ethereum can keep attracting financial apps, corporate treasury demand and infrastructure upgrades.

BitMine keeps adding ETH

Cointelegraph said BitMine Immersion Technologies has likely helped firm up support around $1,500 by continuing to build its Ether position. The US-listed company added 325,000 ETH over the past month, bringing its reserves to 5.74 million ETH, according to figures cited by Cointelegraph.

BitMine’s ETH holdings are carrying about $8 billion in unrealized losses, the report said. An unrealized loss means the position is worth less than its purchase cost on paper, but the loss has not been locked in through a sale.

The company is still pursuing a plan to acquire 5% of Ether’s existing supply, according to Cointelegraph. Large corporate buying can affect market psychology because it signals long-term commitment from a visible holder, though it does not guarantee price support.

Ethereum upgrade aims at capacity

Another driver cited by Cointelegraph is Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade, which is in testing and targeted for later in 2026. The upgrade is designed to let the network process more transactions in parallel, expand data capacity, increase throughput and reduce database bloat.

Throughput means how much activity a network can handle over a given period. Higher throughput can make a blockchain more useful for financial applications, especially if large institutions need consistent performance.

Ethereum has been criticized for relying heavily on layer-2 rollups. A layer-2 is a separate network that processes transactions and sends data back to Ethereum’s main chain. Rollups helped cut transaction costs through data packages known as blobs, but Cointelegraph said they also sparked debates about data censorship, centralization and the long-term economics of Ethereum’s base layer.

Lower activity on Ethereum’s main chain has reduced network fees, according to DefiLlama data cited by Cointelegraph. That matters because Ethereum burns, or permanently removes, some ETH through its fee system. Lower fees can reduce the burn and contribute to inflationary supply dynamics.

Robinhood adds a traditional finance angle

Robinhood launched Robinhood Chain on July 2, according to Cointelegraph. The chain is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, meaning it can run Ethereum-style smart contracts, and it was built using Arbitrum technology.

The rollout linked Ethereum more closely with traditional finance use cases. Cointelegraph reported that Robinhood introduced tokenized stock trading in more than 120 countries and integrated decentralized finance protocols including Uniswap, 1inch and Morpho.

Options data still looked cautious. Laevitas data cited by Cointelegraph showed Ether’s 25% delta skew, a measure comparing demand for downside protection versus upside exposure, moved away from fear levels. Put options carried a 9% premium over similar call options, down from 15% the prior week. Cointelegraph said readings above 12% typically signal extreme fear.

That mix leaves Ether in a middle zone: stronger than the broader crypto market recently, but still facing weak base-layer fee revenue and cautious derivatives positioning. The recent rally is being driven by investors watching whether Ethereum’s financial use cases and technical upgrades can translate into sustained demand.

This story draws on original reporting from Cointelegraph.