Ethereum gained roughly 60.62% by mid-September 2026, marking its strongest third-quarter performance in the source’s opening assessment and, later, its second-best Q3 on record. The rally followed declines of 29.26% in Q1 and 25.28% in Q2, far exceeding the historical average Q3 return of approximately 12.28%. Spot Ethereum ETF inflows surpassed $10 billion cumulatively, including nearly $4 billion in August, while corporate entities bought more than $15 billion worth of ETH. Total value locked (TVL), the capital deposited in decentralized applications, across Ethereum and its Layer-2 networks reached approximately $88 billion. ETH traded above $4,000 and approached $5,000 before a late-September pullback returned it to the $2,400-$2,623 range, while Bitcoin gained about 6%-10% over the same period.