Ethereum is facing a dilemma right now as it grapples with mass accumulation and low token demand. At the time of writing, ETH was trading at around $3,092, with almost no fluctuations over the last 24 hours.

The following analysis from AMBCrypto will outline how Ethereum could perform in Q1 2026.

SharpLink Gaming fully committed to ETH staking

Institutions have been embracing the ETH staking feature lately. For instance, SharpLink Gaming (SBET), the second-largest ETH treasury, has gone all-in.

Over the last seven months, SBET has received staking rewards totaling 10,657 ETH – Valued at approximately $33 million. The previous week, it added 438 ETH to its treasury – Taking the total to 864,840 ETH at press time.

Source: SharpLink

SBET restaked another $170 million in ETH on the Linea network. Despite their involvement in ETH, which was yielding, SBET’s stock was trading at $10, with the same down since mid-July.

These activities, together, are bullish updates for ETH.

Heavy short leverage builds pressure near $3.4k

On the liquidity side, Ethereum’s leveraged longs amounting to almost $7 billion were placed at $2,730.

This contributed to the price rising past $3,000. However, the lack of synchronization across the crypto market derailed sustained price appreciation across the charts.

Source: Coinglass

On the upper side, about $3 billion in Ethereum shorts were clustered at $3,400. A tap at this level could lead ETH into a short squeeze, triggering more price appreciation.

Are whales readying to accumulate, or is interest dying?

While the signals were bullish in nature, the total transaction fees gave a different perspective. The fees were insanely low at press time, indicating there was low demand.

Usually, a cheap blockspace translates to quietness in the network. Despite the fees being low, the crypto market sentiment has been shifting gradually. Especially since the start of the year.

Source: Alphractal

The silence in the network could mean two things. Either the whales were accumulating quietly, or interest in Ethereum was drying up.

Looking at data from HyperLiquid DEX, the former seemed to be playing out. As per Hyperbot, a whale opened a $62 million ETH position with a 3x leverage. The trade was at a profit of over $29k at the time of writing.

Source: Hyperbot

That was not the end, however. Another whale placed a bet of $104.5 million in ETH with 15x leverage. This whale also had positions on Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and Ripple (XRP).

Meanwhile, the price action of Ethereum flipped a multi-month descending channel, aligning with the bullish action. According to NekoZ, the target was set at $4,400, but the price needed to confirm the breakout with a retest of the resistance as support.

Worth pointing out, however, that such a breakout would not guarantee price appreciation from this point onwards. Instead, it would be indicative of potential for growth over the longer term.

Final Thoughts

• Ethereum’s bull signals were SBET fully committing to ETH staking, massive short liquidity on the horizon, and whale activity. 
• ETH’s price needs a clear retest to ascertain direction bias on the charts.