Ethereum stands above $3,140! Quant trading giant bets $105 million on ETH

Headquartered in North Carolina, Antithesis has raised $105 million in a Series A funding round led by Wall Street quantitative trading giant Jane Street. Through advanced simulation and stress testing, Antithesis helps ensure smooth Ethereum upgrades during its transition to the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus protocol. Ethereum has surged to $3,140, with trading volume remaining at a high of $31 billion.

Strategic Signals from Jane Street’s $105 Million Investment

Jane Street, a Wall Street quantitative trading giant, led Antithesis’s Series A round, and this $105 million investment sends an important strategic signal. Jane Street is one of the world’s largest quantitative trading firms, managing tens of billions of dollars in assets, with highly cautious investment decisions based on deep data analysis. Their decision to invest in a company specializing in technical services for Ethereum demonstrates recognition of the long-term value of Ethereum’s infrastructure.

Antithesis’s core technology is an advanced simulation and stress-testing system capable of reproducing any errors that may occur during new software deployment. This capability is crucial for blockchains like Ethereum, which manage hundreds of billions of dollars in assets. Each Ethereum upgrade involves complex smart contract changes and consensus mechanism adjustments, and even minor code errors could lead to fund losses or network outages.

Antithesis states that they help ensure smooth Ethereum upgrades during the transition to the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus protocol. This upgrade, known as “The Merge,” is the most significant technical change in Ethereum’s history, switching the consensus mechanism from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) and greatly reducing energy consumption. The successful execution of this upgrade is partly attributable to the testing and verification support provided by technical service providers like Antithesis.

Jane Street’s investment logic may be based on the following assessment: as blockchain technology matures, smart contract platforms like Ethereum are likely to be widely adopted by large institutions. They are seen as the infrastructure for the next generation of financial applications running on independent networks. If Ethereum truly becomes institutional-grade financial infrastructure, Antithesis, as a key technical service provider, will have enormous commercial value. This “selling picks and shovels to gold miners” strategy is often more robust than directly investing in Ethereum.

Three Strategic Considerations for Jane Street’s Investment in Antithesis

Infrastructure Value Capture: Investing in key service providers in the Ethereum ecosystem to share in the network’s growth dividends

Mitigating Direct Token Holding Risks: Indirectly betting on Ethereum via equity investment to avoid price volatility

Preemptive Institutional Adoption Positioning: Securing a position with key infrastructure suppliers before large-scale institutional adoption

This investment also provides Ethereum with indirect institutional endorsement. When top Wall Street quantitative trading firms are willing to invest in Ethereum ecosystem companies, it sends a clear signal to the market: the technical foundation and business outlook of Ethereum have been recognized by the most professional investors.

Technical Significance of the $2,750 Double Bottom Pattern

(Source: Trading View)

After forming a double bottom near $2,750, Ethereum has recently seen an upswing, confirming the importance of this price level for market participants. The double bottom is one of the most reliable reversal patterns in technical analysis. Its formation requires the price to test the same support level twice, hold, and then break through the neckline between the two bottoms. Ethereum’s double bottom pattern indicates that $2,750 is a strong buy zone, with heavy buying activity occurring every time the price falls to this level.

In the past 24 hours alone, Ethereum’s price has risen 4.2%, and trading volume has remained at a high of $31 billion. This figure accounts for 8% of the token’s circulating market cap, indicating extremely high market participation. When trading volume exceeds 5% of market cap, it usually means the market is undergoing significant price discovery, with intense competition between buyers and sellers.

On the daily chart, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has also broken above the midline. The RSI crossing above the 50 midline from below is a clear signal of momentum shifting from negative to positive. This indicates that bullish momentum is accelerating and buying strength has surpassed selling. In technical analysis, an RSI break above 50 often precedes a price breakout from key resistance by several days, providing traders with an early positioning window.

The measured target of the double bottom is the height from the bottom to the neckline added to the neckline’s position. For Ethereum, with the double bottom at $2,750 and the neckline around $3,000, the height is about $250, giving a theoretical target of $3,250. However, if the breakout momentum is strong, the price often exceeds the theoretical target and heads toward the next major resistance zone.

Four Confirmation Signals of Ethereum’s Double Bottom Reversal

Two Bottom Rebounds: $2,750 has provided support twice, confirming buying strength

Volume Expansion: Trading volume reached $31 billion during the rebound, accounting for 8% of market cap

RSI Breaks Midline: Momentum indicator confirms trend reversal

Neckline Breakout Pending Confirmation: Needs to break through the $3,000 to $3,100 neckline area

If these signals continue to strengthen, especially if volume further expands during the neckline breakout, it will confirm the double bottom pattern and open a new upward cycle.

Key Resistance at $3,350 and the Path to $4,000

If the rally continues, breaking through the $3,350 resistance level may confirm a trend reversal. $3,350 was a significant price level for Ethereum in early November, where heavy selling pressure previously triggered a reversal. This price level also coincides with the previous correction’s starting point, aligning with the classical technical theory of “previous high resistance,” where prior highs often become resistance during subsequent rebounds.

A break above $3,350 would not only be a technical victory but would also signal that market demand has grown strong enough to absorb all profit-taking pressure. Around this resistance, many investors who bought at higher levels may choose to sell once their positions break even. If buying can absorb this selling pressure and push the price higher, it would confirm the strength of the uptrend.

After breaking $3,350, Ethereum could see a full rebound and push its price back to $4,000 in the coming weeks. $4,000 is a key psychological level and was the previous high at the beginning of 2024. From the current price of around $2,900 (assumed) to $4,000, this represents about 38% upside—a significant gain for a mainstream token.

Achieving the $4,000 target will require multiple catalysts. First is accelerated institutional adoption—Jane Street’s investment is just the beginning, and if more Wall Street institutions follow suit by investing in the Ethereum ecosystem, it will bring sustained buying to the market. Next is improved capital inflows into Ethereum ETFs—if U.S. Ethereum ETFs see consecutive net inflows, it will validate real institutional demand. Third, smooth progress in technical upgrades—if upcoming Ethereum upgrades are completed as expected, it will enhance network performance and market confidence.

From a longer-term perspective, Ethereum’s dominance in tokenized assets and DeFi is its value anchor. Traditional financial giants like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have chosen to issue tokenized funds on Ethereum, demonstrating that it has become the preferred platform for institutional-grade applications. If this trend continues, Ethereum’s valuation logic may be upgraded from “smart contract platform” to “global financial infrastructure,” supporting higher valuation levels.

From a technical indicators perspective, if the RSI continues to climb and breaks above 60, it will further confirm bullish momentum. If the MACD forms a golden cross, it will provide an additional buy signal. If trading volume exceeds $40 billion when breaking $3,350, it will confirm the validity of the breakout. The simultaneous strengthening of these technical signals will significantly increase the probability of reaching the $4,000 target.