3 Reasons That Cause Ethereum to Rise After Many Months of Decline, According to Bernstein

Since the lowest point in April, ETH has nearly doubled — up 65% in the past 30 days to reach $2,750. What is driving the sudden surge? Analysts at Bernstein, led by Gautam Chhugani, believe that there are three major changes driving the growth of Ethereum and changing the perception of its role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

1. Tokenization and Stablecoins Are Reviving Ethereum Use Cases Ethereum has struggled to attract attention as Bitcoin dominates ETF interest and Solana draws retail traders. However, according to Bernstein, the real utility of Ethereum has come back into focus — particularly in stablecoins and tokenized assets. The payment giant Stripe's acquisition of the stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion and Meta's efforts to innovate stablecoins signal that the next major cycle could revolve around payments with stablecoins and tokenized securities—not just stories about value storage. Ethereum currently holds 51% of the total stablecoin and dominates the deployment of tokenized assets from traditional financial companies such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton. With the current real-world tokenization market valued at $22 billion, ETH is becoming the backbone of the new financial infrastructure.
2. Ethereum Layer 2 is Really Attracting Attention from Organizations Skeptics often argue that Layer 2 does not significantly increase the value of ETH. However, Bernstein's data tells a different story: networks like Base, which earned $84 million in revenue last year, are proving the value of Ethereum as a payment layer for enterprise-level infrastructure. The report notes that Robinhood's acquisition of WonderFi, the company operating Ethereum Layer 2, could allow brokers to issue tokenized stocks directly on the Layer 2 network. As these solutions use ETH as gas, they continue to create structural demand for Ethereum across the financial system.
3. The Concealment of Short Selling is Driving a Tactical Price Suppression For many months, ETH has been the leading hedge in delta neutral cryptocurrency strategies, with funds buying BTC and SOL while shorting Ethereum. That position is now reversing. As Ethereum re-establishes itself as the platform of choice for real assets, stablecoins, and institutional finance, short sellers are exiting their trades. Bernstein views this short selling as a key factor behind ETH's recent outperformance, referring to it as a "tactical unwind" that could drive prices even higher. Outlook: The Return of Ethereum Brings Benefits to the Entire Market Bernstein concluded that the price surge of Ethereum is not just about ETH. A broader altcoin rally, led by Ethereum, is reviving cryptocurrency trading activity. It is a benefit for exchanges, brokerage firms, and retail platforms, all of which benefit from increased trading volume and broader participation in the market. If the current trend continues, Ethereum may ultimately break free from the label "stuck in the middle" — and regain its position as the most flexible and valuable platform in the cryptocurrency world.