To be honest, I am truly impressed by Ethereum's recent performance, and I also realize I was completely mistaken.

With such a poor fundamental situation that can't be improved, lacking proper narrative and data, whether it's ecosystem vitality or technological iteration, both are being suppressed by competitors. Yet, it somehow stubbornly holds above $2000 without collapsing. This resilience indeed exceeded my expectations. But is this normal? Clearly not. This is a completely "manipulated" trend.
Anyone with a clear eye can see that Ethereum is now completely "inflated." The weak fundamentals are an objective fact. What is holding it up? It's entirely due to highly concentrated holdings. The current situation is obvious: most of the chips are in the hands of major players, especially those on Wall Street in the US. This is no longer a decentralized public chain king; it's basically a puppet controlled by Wall Street.
Among these, ETFs have definitely played a major role. Hundreds of billions of dollars in ETF inflows have indeed given Ethereum a boost, or rather, a costly crutch. ETFs provide a huge buffer, giving major players the chance to slowly offload or maintain the market without collapsing. But this is a band-aid solution; the fundamental issues remain. If the fundamentals are rotten, they are rotten. It's like a company that loses money year after year, with its stock price solely supported by large shareholder buybacks—how long can that last?
Now, look at who is buying ETFs. Frankly, most are incremental funds trying to enter the space, or old funds in the crypto circle simply changing their masks. Everyone is talking about "high valuation," which is just a premium. Right now, it looks lively because everyone still shares a consensus in their dreams, believing it is the "King of Public Chains" and subscribing to the "bloodline theory."
But once market sentiment reverses or Bitcoin leads a sell-off, this so-called "stubborn support" will instantly turn into a "stampede." If the fundamentals are weak, there is no intrinsic value to support it; the more ETF money is bought, the greater the force when a sell-off happens. When that time comes, hundreds of billions of ETF funds trying to escape will find the exit narrow, and a stampede is inevitable.
This $2000 defense line may look unbreakable, but it’s just a thin layer of window paper—once pierced, it’s over. As I always say, when the tide recedes, you’ll see who’s swimming naked. Ethereum’s current "false prosperity" is probably just one fuse away from collapse. $ETH