Ethereum climbed toward $2,800 this week as veteran trader Peter Brandt projected a long-term rally to $8,600, and an old ICO-era whale wallet came back to buy the dip. The move coincided with a signal Glassnode says marks a shift from Bitcoin into altcoins, while Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin pushed the network's quantum-resistance timeline.
Ethereum traded at $2,731, up 6% over the past 24 hours, after swinging between a low of $2,646 and a high of $2,804. Trading volume jumped 80% in the same period, and the price has rallied almost 50% in a month amid renewed inflows into spot Ethereum ETFs.
Brandt Points to $8,600 After Breakout
Peter Brandt shared a daily Ethereum futures chart pointing to an upside target of $8,674, arguing the rally could continue after the breakout above $5,000. He was careful about the call, though. According to Peter Brandt: "a claim of a call or simple presentation of a chart is NOT a trade".
Total ETH futures open interest climbed 1% to $36 billion in the past 24 hours. Open interest on the CME rose more than 8%, while it slipped 0.56% on Binance. Meanwhile, Glassnode noted the altcoin cycle signal has flipped from Bitcoin to altcoin season, with today's rally spreading across the broader altcoin market after August's move left altcoins largely flat.
An ICO-Era Whale Buys Back In
A wallet tied to an Ethereum ICO participant bought 8,492.8 ETH for $23.7 million through four Cow Swap orders on Sept. 21, at an average of about $2,794 per coin. Hours later, ETH touched $2,807, its first trade above $2,800 since Jan. 30, 2026.
The same wallet had sold ETH near $2,010 in March, and it originally subscribed to 38,800 ETH during Ethereum's ICO at about $0.31 per coin, tokens that arrived when the network went live in 2015. That stake would be worth about $106 million at yesterday's local high near $2,800. A separate cluster of addresses has also been accumulating, buying 21,520 ETH since Sept. 18 for roughly $55.8 million. It now sits on about $3.25 million in paper gains.
Buterin Pushes Quantum Resistance
Vitalik Buterin has prioritized privacy alongside quantum resistance and scalability, with the upcoming Glamsterdam and Hegota upgrades targeting a fully quantum-resistant Layer-1 by 2029. Buterin has also rejected claims that AI hacking could break crypto's cybersecurity, even as returning whale wallets keep buying into the rally. He is betting 90% of his crypto that AI helps defense more than it helps attackers.
Sources: CoinGape, Bitcoin.com News
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