Ethereum Surpasses $2000 Amid Institutional Interest

Ethereum demonstrated the strongest weekly performance among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, with its price rising by 8.5% over the week, surpassing $2000.

The update Pectra, implemented on May 7, was not the primary driver of the price increase, according to Nansen analyst Nikolai Sondergaard:

“This is a long-term process, not an instant driver.”

The expert highlighted the accumulation of “smart money” by institutions like Wintermute. According to Nansen, the firm stocked up on the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization to profit from market-making.

Lookonchain experts recorded the withdrawal of 41,269 ETH ($75 million) from Binance and Kraken by the London-based fund Abraxas Capital.

Abraxas Capital Mgmt (Heka Funds) withdrew 33,035 $ETH($60M) from #Binance and #Kraken 5 hours ago.https://t.co/vZTxLPcuJS pic.twitter.com/phVFFTiGQw

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 8, 2025

Analysts also reported that a whale created a new wallet and deposited 8.58 million USDC into Hyperliquid. The whale used 2x leverage to open a long position on Ethereum.

A whale is long $ETH!

Today, a whale created a new wallet and deposited 8.58M $USDC into Hyperliquid to go long $ETH with 2x leverage.

The entry price was $1,930.41, and the unrealized profit was $354K.https://t.co/VCde0KmqRb pic.twitter.com/nkKC1BGnsY

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 8, 2025

The entry price was $1930.41 per coin, with an unrealized profit of $354,000.

Despite the significant rise, Ethereum remains 59% below its all-time high ($4878), and the ETH/BTC ratio is near five-year lows. Data from IntoTheBlock indicates that 65.5 million wallets (nearly half of the network) are at a loss.  

The Ethereum rally coincided with a general market upswing, with capitalization reaching $3.2 trillion. 

Earlier on May 8, the price of digital gold exceeded $99,000 amid promises by U.S. President Donald Trump to implement “the biggest tax cut” and secure “a major trade deal.”