ETH jumps to six‑week high
Ethereum climbed about 10–11% to a six‑week high as ETF inflows and Layer‑3 momentum reignited buying — markets are talking Layer‑3 launches that bridge DeFi and TradFi and renewed L2 scaling/restaking narratives. Momentum looks relief‑driven, so watch short puts and liquidity X X.
Ether briefly traded around $2,300 on March 16–17, 2026 after a roughly 10% move that pushed it to a six‑week high ([coindesk.com)]. U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded roughly $160 million of net inflows in the most recent weekly cadence, according to ETF flow trackers reporting mid‑March data ([coincentral.com)]. Mining and corporate treasuries added to buying: BitMine purchased 60,999 ETH last week, bringing its reported holdings to about 4.59 million ETH, a fact noted in market coverage of the rally ([coincentral.com)]. Derivatives dynamics amplified the move, with market monitors putting forced short liquidations near $204 million as price reclaimed key levels and triggered stop‑outs ([computing.net)]. Layer‑3 developments that traders have been discussing include Mantle’s Mantle Vault expansion on Bybit — said to connect native Aave/CIAN yield to over 80 million Bybit users — and Horizen relaunching as a privacy‑focused Layer‑3 on Base, both touted as rails that can link institutional flows to on‑chain liquidity ([investing.com)]. The restaking narrative is resurging: restaking market trackers reported EigenLayer total value locked figures in the mid‑double‑digit billions in March 2026, highlighting renewed capital allocation into shared security services ([fensory.com)], and EigenLayer’s slashing mechanism — activated in April 2025 — remains the backbone of those restaking economics for operators and delegators ([coindesk.com)].
