SINGAPORE, Feb 20, 2026, 14:38 SGT
On Friday, Ether changed hands at $1,955.79, slipping 0.73% in the previous 24 hours. About $18.0 billion worth of Ether was traded, according to data from CoinMarketCap. (CoinMarketCap)
Ethereum’s narrative is once again in flux. This round, some investors are pointing to “utility” NFTs—think ticketing or licensing projects—as the main driver, instead of yet another hype cycle. Meyka, in a Feb. 19 note to UK clients, pegged ether at $1,963.24, down 1.39% for the day, highlighting that the relative strength index (RSI) was sitting close to 30, a mark plenty of traders see as oversold territory. The note also pointed to a wave of enterprise-grade NFT platforms now touting features like custody, fiat rails, KYC requirements and even dispute resolution. Meanwhile, project teams keep diversifying: Ethereum, layer-2 rollups, and competitors like Solana are all in play as efforts to shave down costs and hunt liquidity ramp up. (Meyka)
The back-and-forth spilled into Polymarket, with users putting down $1.17 million on a bet about ether’s price at noon ET on Feb. 19. The contract referenced Binance’s one-minute ETH/USDT close, according to the platform’s own rules. In the end, the market paid out “yes” for ether above $1,500 and $1,900, but not for levels above $2,000. (Polymarket)
Prediction markets are now facing criticism of their own. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin—who was among the early backers of Polymarket—flagged concerns on X, cautioning that the space could slide into “corposlop” fixated on “low-value gambling.” He specifically pointed to short-term bets on crypto prices, according to Business Insider. (Business Insider)
Macro risks are still front and center for major tokens. “No major catalyst looks set to push [cryptocurrencies] higher,” said Gerry O’Shea, head of market insights at Hashdex, in comments to Barron’s, highlighting lingering uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy and the broader economy. Bitcoin hovered around $67,088 as late U.S. trading wound down Thursday; ether edged up about 0.3%, per Dow Jones Market Data referenced by Barron’s. (Barron’s)
Utility isn’t just about NFTs, and plenty of it flies under the radar. Meyka, in a Feb. 11 note, highlighted things like enterprise pilots for luxury authentication, tokenized loyalty programs—think loyalty points as tokens—and Scope 3 emissions reporting, which tracks indirect emissions across a company’s value chain. According to the note, these applications generate steady, smaller on-chain transactions, which help drive both base fees and validator income—the payouts for network operators. (Meyka)
Ethereum keeps it simple: each transaction comes with a gas fee, usually settled in ether. Should transactions with steeper fees pick up and remain, validators pocket more, potentially lifting demand for the token that covers those costs.
The key question: which network gets the action. Layer-2s bundle up transactions, return them to Ethereum, which keeps user fees down. Solana, with its lower costs, is pushing to capture the rapid-fire, smaller trades—exactly the kind of volume that first gave NFTs their buzz.
The center of gravity doesn’t always stay put. Should “utility” end up as just another marketing tagline and liquidity start drying up, bids might vanish, price floors could plunge, and wash trading—fake deals that puff up volume—can scramble key trading signals.
