TLDR
- Ethereum gained 71% in Q3 2026, its best quarter since early 2021.
- ETH trades near $2,445, with a daily close above $2,450 seen as the next test for buyers.
- Ethereum led weekly euro stablecoin growth with a $9.1 million rise in market cap.
- Ethereum holds $144.3 billion in stablecoins, or 47.7% of the total.
- Analyst BitGuru lists $2,320 as support and $2,415 as resistance.
Ethereum rose 71% in the third quarter of 2026. That is its best three-month run since early 2021, according to The Motley Fool.
ETH was trading at $2,444.90 on Oct. 21, up 1.65% on the day. The day’s range ran from $2,376.74 to $2,471.63, and the market cap stood at $298.64 billion.
Over the past 52 weeks, the coin has moved between $1,512.07 and $4,246.23. Trading volume was 11.4 billion.
What History Says About Big Quarters
Since 2019, Ethereum has had nine quarters with gains of 50% or more. The first four, between mid-2019 and late 2020, were followed by stronger returns over the next two years.
The pattern changed after that. Two years after Q1 2021, 2023 and 2024, ETH was down 4.8%, flat and down 42.6%, respectively. A 66.7% gain in Q3 2025 was followed by a 35.3% drop within 12 months.
Analyst Ted Pillows said ETH spot buyers are “waking up.” He noted that a daily close above $2,450 is needed to put buyers in control. Price sits just below that level now.
$ETH spot buyers are waking up.
A daily close above $2,450 is needed here to put buyers in control. pic.twitter.com/ijjHN07j4Z
— Ted (@TedPillows) October 20, 2026
Crypto analyst Ash Crypto pointed to the Russell 2000 index as a chart to watch. He said the index has led ETH for years and the two are now further apart than ever. He said the Oct. 10 crash broke the link between them and sent crypto into its own bear market.
ETHEREUM COULD BE SETTING UP FOR A MASSIVE CATCH-UP RALLY.
Russell 2000 has led ETH for years, and right now the two are further apart than they have ever been.
The October 10 crash broke the correlation and sent crypto into its own bear market. Russell kept climbing to a new… pic.twitter.com/LGuT8rrPX6
— Ash Crypto (@AshCrypto) October 20, 2026
Ash Crypto added that the Russell 2000 is down 11% from its all-time high after bouncing 1.67% from key support. If it keeps rising, he said, it could signal a reversal for ETH. He named $2,800 as first resistance and $3,600 to $4,500 as the next targets.
Network activity remains steady. Users paid $15.9 million in chain fees in September.
As of Oct. 19, Ethereum hosted $144.3 billion in stablecoins, or 47.7% of the total. It also led in tokenized real-world assets, with $16.9 billion.
Token Terminal data shows Ethereum added $9.1 million in euro stablecoin market cap over seven days. Arc followed with $2 million, and Arbitrum One added $130,500.
Euro stablecoin market cap on Ethereum grew by $9.1M over the past 7 days, followed by Arc at +$2.0M
Arbitrum One added $130.5K, while Stellar, Algorand & Polygon saw declines pic.twitter.com/R2iT7LGYQ5
— Token Terminal 📊 (@tokenterminal) October 19, 2026
Stellar, Algorand and Polygon saw their euro stablecoin market caps fall.
Analyst BitGuru put ETH near $2,388 in a recent update and flagged bearish pressure. He listed $2,320 as support, with $2,276 as the next downside target if that level breaks.
On the upside, BitGuru said ETH needs to reclaim $2,415 to boost its recovery. The $2,500 level is the next area above that.
ETH has since moved above both $2,415 and the $2,445 mark. The next level in focus is a daily close above $2,450.
