Ethereum sentiment is at a crossroads, as former supporters are re-evaluating the community’s utilization. $ETH additionally trades round $2,100, with nearly no web good points for the previous 5 years.
Ethereum goes by way of a ‘vibe shift’, in response to David Hoffman, founding father of Bankless. Hoffman just lately offered all his private $ETH holdings, and famous a shift on social media.
Hoffman, who has beforehand proven himself to be an Ethereum maximalist, just lately began evaluating different crypto narratives, particularly following the sequence of hacks in April. The shift to $ETH skepticism was seen as a robust signal that Ethereum might lastly produce other opponents, whereas going through a shift in crypto utilization.
At the moment, Bankless holds lower than 1 $ETH in one in all its public wallets. Crypto investor Ryan Adams additionally talked about he would step again from direct management over Bankless, however stays bullish on crypto and Ethereum.
In response to Messari, $ETH mindshare fell beneath its baseline in Might and recovered barely to 4.2%. At the moment, Ethereum retains its legacy standing as a community for DeFi and stablecoin funds, however sentiment stays comparatively low.
Is Ethereum going by way of one other crypto winter?
As of Might 2026, $ETH sentiment remained impartial, primarily based on the concern and greed index. $ETH open curiosity stands at $12.3M, close to the one-year low mark. For now, $ETH by-product buying and selling is extra energetic in comparison with the 2022-2023 crypto winter.
$ETH is already down by over 55% of its peak from August 2025, after failing to climb to a better worth vary. Ongoing spot market weak point and indicators of promoting stress have weighed down on $ETH and prevented a worth restoration.
In response to Bitmine’s founder Tom Lee, the present $ETH sentiment might replicate the overall despair as a result of decreased liquidity. Lee nonetheless believes Ethereum can turn out to be the settlement layer for world finance and function a platform for AI brokers.
Agree with @RyanSAdams {that a} deep bench of leaders and builders are prepared to make sure $ETH stays the long run settlement layer of finance and AI
– to me, a lot of bearish sentiment displays the disdain and despair seen on the nadir of crypto winter (finger pointing on the lows)… https://t.co/RHgwgutIo2
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FundstratDirect.com (@fundstrat) Might 21, 2026
Analysis by Santiment exhibits merchants and different $ETH backers have just lately shifted to an excellent worse sentiment. The current exits from the Ethereum Basis additionally put a query on the community’s targets. Santiment additionally famous Ethereum feedback switched extra damaging in Might, after holding up a extra bullish angle in April.
Moreover, the Ethereum Basis closely pushed L2 chains, which led to a quick bull market and elevated liquidity for some networks. Now, the Basis has taken up the duty of scaling the L1 as soon as once more, whereas competing with networks which are already a lot quicker and cheaper.
$ETH turns into an inflationary asset
Present $ETH exercise occurs at extraordinarily low fuel costs. Consequently, extra $ETH is produced every week. The Ethereum community now not acts as sound cash, and has achieved a 0.82% annualized inflation.
The inflation could also be partially offset by staking. Nonetheless, even staking nodes might have to promote or mortgage a few of their $ETH to lock in earnings. At the moment, ecosystems like BNB Chain, Solana, and Hyperliquid present a bigger speculative enthusiasm, whereas Ethereum lacks clear narratives and new developments to attract in merchants.
