Ethereum Price Prediction: Tom Lee Flags Bullish Setup as Funding Rate Hits One-Year High

Ethereum (ETH) price remains below the resistance at $2,500 despite rising by 30% since August 19. While the rally is cooling off, Bitmine’s Chairman Tom Lee has flagged a bullish setup on Ethereum’s chart as ETH’s funding rate on Binance surges to the highest point in one year.

Tom Lee Flags Bullish Setup That Sparked Previous Ethereum Rallies

Tom Lee recently disclosed that Bitmine purchased 34K ETH between August 17 and August 21, as previously reported by CoinGape. While making that disclosure, Lee also said that ETH recorded its highest weekly gain since May 2025.

He noted that a similar gain also occurred in July 2021, and ETH later gained by 167%. In May 2025, Ethereum also gained by 170% after another big green weekly candle.

The Bitmine executive expects the same gains to occur as macro tailwinds such as looming $1 trillion Treasury buybacks boost liquidity and increase the demand for risk assets.

Lee’s bullish thesis comes as technical indicators suggest that ETH could extend its gains past $2,500 if buying pressure remains strong per a recent CoinGape Ethereum price analysis.

Ethereum Funding Rate Soars to Yearly High on Binance

Data from CryptoQuant shows Ethereum’s funding rate on Binance has risen to 0.01, with this being the highest reading since August 2025. The surge shows that long buyers are paying funding fees to short sellers to keep their positions open.

CryptoQuant analyst Arab Chain notes that the funding rate is rising alongside an improved risk appetite that is drawing traders to spot products.

Still, these long positions also pose a risk to Ethereum if the price makes an unexpected drop and the long buyers are forced to sell to close their positions.

Ethereum Price Prediction as Bulls Test 200-day EMA Resistance

The price of Ethereum is testing resistance at the 200-day EMA of $2,455. ETH closed above this resistance last week, but it needs three more straight closes to confirm a bullish long-term Ethereum price forecast.

If Ethereum moves above $2,455, the price could reach the 2026 high of $3,423. However, if a move above this resistance does not occur, Ethereum price could drop to the psychological support of $2,000.

The RSI reading of 59 suggests that the momentum is still favoring bulls. However, this RSI needs to print a higher high to confirm that the uptrend is strong.

Ethereum also needs to remain above the weekly resistance of $2,373. Losing this support could also push the price to $2,000.

Spot ETH ETFs on Track to Post Their Best Month in 12 Months

Data from SoSoValue shows that Ethereum ETFs have recorded $1.06 billion in inflows so far in August 2026. This marks the highest monthly inflows that the ETFs have seen since August 2025.

The BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) had the highest inflows of $814 million, followed by Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) with $81 million in inflows.

Ethereum ETFs now have total net assets of $14.74 billion per SoSoValue, with this being equivalent to 4.93% of ETH’s market cap.