Ethereum (ETH) has surged past a critical resistance level at $2,600, sparking fresh bullish sentiment across the market as analysts and investors alike set their sights on the psychologically significant $3,000 mark.

With growing institutional interest, whale accumulation, and renewed momentum against Bitcoin (BTC), ETHs latest rally is being hailed as the beginning of a broader altcoin resurgence.

ETF Inflows, Whale Activity Fuel Bullish Momentum

At the time of this writing, ETH had risen slightly in the last 24 hours, gaining 0.9% to go just beyond $2,640. Over seven days, the assets price fluctuated between $2,482 and $2,771, with the current value a 0.2% increase over that time. Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency still edged out the broader digital asset market, which is down 1.9% this week.

ETH has also shone in longer periods, up a respectable 4.4% across two weeks and a more eye-catching 46.3% in the past month.

Market watchers are pointing to strong institutional accumulation as a primary driver of Ethereum’s upward movement. On June 4, pseudonymous crypto trader Doctor Profit reported visible on-chain signs of large players scooping up ETH, including a significant uptick in buying from BlackRock.

Echoing this, crypto enthusiast Kyle Chassé noted that a single whale wallet had acquired more than 108,000 ETH, worth almost $285 million, in less than 24 hours. This institutional embrace has been corroborated by data from CoinShares, which shows investment products based on the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency attracting almost $1.2 billion over six consecutive weeks, the strongest inflow streak since December 2024.

Based on this uptick in accumulation, Doctor Profit is explicitly calling for $3,000 anytime soon while targeting $4,000 ahead of a potential all-time high attempt in late summer. He also noted the profitability of rotating from assets like XRP, which has been down 7% recently, into ETH, which has gone up 6% in the same period.

Foundation Restructuring

The outlook may be overwhelmingly bullish, but a note of caution stems from the Ethereum Foundation itself.

The significant restructuring and layoffs announced yesterday within the Protocol Research and Development team highlight ongoing internal challenges related to scalability, blob space expansion, and user experience.

While aimed at long-term efficiency, such moves can introduce near-term uncertainty, which could affect the price of ETH.