Ethereum Plunges to Three Consecutive Red Candles, Institutional Investors Split

Ethereum has carved an unwelcome niche in its own history books by posting three consecutive quarterly red candles for the first time since its inception. The token's value has declined significantly, shedding 28% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and a further 29% slide in the first three months of 2026.

The year-to-date loss now stands at nearly 48%, with Ethereum's value swallowing 68% of its peak of roughly $4,946 from August 2025. The market response to these losses has been varied, with some institutional players throwing in the towel while others are taking advantage of discounted tokens.

FG Nexus unwound its entire Ethereum position, capping the process with a 9,481-ETH transfer to Galaxy Digital, estimated to have cost the firm about $86.6 million in realized losses. On the other hand, BitMine Immersion Technologies, chaired by Tom Lee, bought roughly 27,084 ETH for around $43 million in late June.

On-chain data paints a stark picture of waning network engagement, with the 14-day average of active addresses on Ethereum slumping to roughly 420,000, a 46% drop from the February peak of 795,000. Technical signals have turned bearish, too: a death cross on the weekly chart was confirmed on June 30.

The Ethereum team continues to work toward the 'Glamsterdam' upgrade, though no mainnet activation date has been set. Meanwhile, co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a detailed note on 'indistinguishability obfuscation' (iO), a cryptographic technique that hides not just data but the code itself.