I haven't been closely following Ethereum's price movements since July, and only in mid-September did I revisit its investment prospects. That assessment was relatively conservative, but the key observation was—funds flowing into ETFs in September dropped to less than 10% of August's inflow, indicating that the phase of institutional accumulation has come to an end.

However, in recent weeks, with the convergence of several important signals, the situation seems to be changing. Ethereum may be brewing the next wave of accumulation.

**Why I am optimistic about ETH's fundamentals**

Honestly, Ethereum's performance over the past two years has not been eye-catching. High gas fees led star projects like dYdX to migrate to other blockchains, leaving many enthusiasts feeling disappointed. Plus, missing out on the meme coin craze made the scene seem somewhat dormant.

But one thing is universally acknowledged—no other blockchain can match Ethereum's level of decentralization. This is precisely why institutional funds started to allocate to it from the third quarter of last year.

Data shows that Ethereum's DeFi ecosystem's locked assets far surpass competitors like Solana, establishing it as the foundational infrastructure layer of Web3 finance. This status wasn't achieved through marketing but through a continuous balance between decentralization and usability.

What's even more interesting is that, in an era where stablecoins like USDT can be frozen or reissued, Ethereum still manages to offer near Bitcoin-level resistance to censorship. This feature is irreplaceable for users who pursue financial freedom.