Cryptocurrency markets showed two distinct momentum signals on Aug. 24, 2026, as Ethena (ENA) extended a dramatic short-term rebound and Ethereum (ETH) began outperforming Bitcoin following fresh institutional flow data and a bullish call from Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee.
ENA traded near $0.16 after a 94% weekly gain from its August lows, according to CoinGlass. Despite the surge, the token remained roughly 70% below its October high near $0.53. The recovery pushed ENA into a key resistance zone at the 0.236 Fibonacci retracement level around $0.179. A decisive close above that level could open the path toward $0.2470 and $0.3017; failure could drag the price back toward the August base near $0.07.
Derivatives activity is dominating ENA's move. CoinGlass data showed daily derivatives turnover near $2.00 billion versus about $276.95 million in spot volume, with open interest around $484 million. That means futures volume is more than seven times cash spot volume, creating conditions for fast, leverage-driven swings. A widely discussed $1.5 million Binance deposit represented only about 0.5% of daily spot volume and is not considered a major market catalyst.
Ethena’s protocol metrics continue to expand. Its June governance update reported USDe supply near $4.46 billion, expanded custody and wallet services through Coinbase, and a strategic deal with Janus Henderson involving an ENA investment and USDe treasury allocations. StablecoinX, an entity built around Ethena’s stablecoin products, began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker USDE and reportedly holds about 20% of total ENA supply. However, ENA does not currently offer a fee switch distributing protocol revenue to token holders.
Ethereum traded near $2,463 after gaining 29.3% over seven days, outperforming Bitcoin’s 21.4% advance. The ETH/BTC ratio rose to about 0.0318 from roughly 0.02994 in mid-August. Tom Lee said the long-awaited Ethereum rotation had begun, arguing that tokenization, stablecoins and artificial intelligence applications could strengthen ETH as a financial settlement network. He forecast that ETH could exceed $10,000 within one to two years, though that would require a roughly 306% gain.
U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs attracted $365 million in July, exceeding Bitcoin funds’ $205 million total and marking the first month where ETH ETF inflows surpassed Bitcoin ETF inflows by more than two to one. Ethereum products also recorded $92.15 million of net inflows on Aug. 6 after $60.86 million a day earlier. BitMine Immersion Technologies, where Lee serves as chairman, reported holding 5,815,164 ETH as of Aug. 16, about 4.8% of estimated circulating supply, with about 87% staked.
The immediate technical picture for ETH places resistance near $2,500 and support around $2,400. Ethereum remains roughly 50% below its August 2025 record of $4,946, while ENA still needs to prove that its latest rally is more than a leveraged bounce.
