Wall Street closed with S&P 500 and Nasdaq at fresh records as Tesla and Apple led a powerful tech rally while the Dow slipped.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finishing at record levels as a renewed surge in technology shares overshadowed weakness in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Wall Street scales new peak on tech strength

According to market data compiled by Gate, the Dow slipped 0.15%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq added 1.59%, pushing both benchmarks to fresh all-time closing highs in New York.

Tesla shares rallied 7.6% to around $390 after recent losses, extending a rebound that has left the electric-vehicle maker up sharply from its intraday low near $362 earlier in the session.

Apple also advanced, climbing nearly 3% as investors rotated back into the largest U.S. technology and AI-linked names, helping to propel the tech-heavy Nasdaq to its latest record.

SanDisk, by contrast, fell 5.5%, highlighting ongoing dispersion within the broader technology complex even as headline indices notch new peaks.

The latest leg higher leaves the S&P 500 trading just below 7,000 points, extending a powerful run that has seen the index gain more than 16% over the past year alongside expectations for roughly 15% annual earnings growth, according to recent U.S. market research.finance.yahoo+1

Chinese companies listed in New York also participated in the move, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 0.7% and NetEase adding about 2%, underscoring renewed risk appetite for growth and internet names.

The advance comes against a backdrop of investors betting that resilient U.S. economic data, strong big-tech balance sheets and ongoing enthusiasm around artificial intelligence will continue to support equities, even as geopolitical tensions and higher-for-longer rates remain in focus.

In this environment, Wall Street strategists have pointed to April’s historical tendency to deliver strong equity performance, with the S&P 500 averaging gains of roughly 1.4% in the month over recent decades, reinforcing seasonal tailwinds behind the latest breakout.

Ethereum has managed to keep the price above the $2,300 level, pulling away from the mid-March dip near $1,940. The latest price action arrives amid a broader sense of resilience, underpinned by spot demand and a resurgence in futures activity that traders are watching closely for signs of a lasting momentum shift after a long run of attempts to reclaim the $2,400 mark.

According to CoinGlass, ETH futures open interest has climbed to about $25.4 billion, suggesting growing appetite for leveraged exposure even as spot demand plays a key role in supporting prices. The move comes as the market consolidates a more constructive tone after weeks of struggle to reestablish the $2,400 threshold, with price action stabilizing near the current range as macro headlines ebb and flow.

Key takeaways

• Spot demand and institutional inflows anchor the rally: US-listed Ether spot ETFs saw about $248 million in net inflows over the past 10 days, reinforcing a narrative of solid cash-based buying. Bitmine Immersion’s ETH holdings have grown to 4.87 million ETH, equating to roughly $11.46 billion at current prices.
• Abstract risk remains despite price momentum: The perpetual ETH funding rate has struggled to stay above 5% since Friday and has dipped into negative territory at times, signaling cautious sentiment among bulls even as futures exposure expands.
• DApp activity wanes even as demand indicators hold: Ethereum weekly DApps revenue has slipped to about $11 million, down from roughly $24 million in early February, raising questions about near-term on-chain demand and ETH’s ability to sustain a broader network activity rebound.
• Market backdrop and ETF flows temper the upside: Ether ETFs report about $13.7 billion in assets under management, down from $20.5 billion three months earlier, while the S&P 500 hit new all-time highs—creating a mixed macro environment for crypto risk assets.

Spot demand versus on-chain activity

From a price perspective, ETH’s current zone of support around $2,300 has coincided with a pickup in spot-market interest. The net inflows into U.S.-listed Ether spot ETFs over the last 10 days provide a tangible signal that some market participants prefer owning ETH outright rather than relying solely on derivatives to express exposure. Those inflows come at a time when spot demand appears to be the primary driver behind recent price stability, even as derivatives metrics present a more nuanced story.

Bitmine Immersion—a digital asset treasury company—announced a fresh tranche of ETH purchases totaling about $312 million, boosting its holdings to 4.87 million ETH. That stockpile is valued today at roughly $11.46 billion. However, data from CoinGecko shows those holdings are trading approximately 13% below their acquisition cost, underscoring that the profitability of such stockpiling is sensitive to price swings and timing. The broader ETF ecosystem reflects a similar narrative: Ether’s US-listed ETF assets under management sit around $13.7 billion, down from $20.5 billion three months prior, highlighting a shifting appetite for passive exposure alongside ongoing volatility in crypto markets.

Complicating the picture is a macro backdrop where traditional equities have shown strength, with the S&P 500 reaching new highs on the same trading day as ETH’s rally. In this environment, investors appear to be weighing the potential for a systemic crypto rebound against competing macro drivers and sector-specific headwinds.

Derivatives sentiment and price action

Despite rising futures exposure, the market’s sentiment signals remain cautious. The ETH perpetual futures funding rate has not convincingly held above the 5% annualized threshold since last Friday, with several readings dipping below zero. In theory, a healthy long-speculation premium would be expected when bulls are confident, but the data suggests that the market continues to price in considerable risk and a need to justify the rally with more concrete on-chain activity or macro catalysts. Still, some analysts argue that the current price action is more reflective of spot demand supporting prices than of a wholesale shift in derivatives positioning.

Data from Laevitas tracking perpetual funding rates paints a nuanced picture: periods of neutrality—roughly in the 5% to 10% range under typical conditions—have given way to readings that imply a tilt toward neutral-to-cautious positioning. In other words, while more capital appears to be entering ETH futures, the cost of carry signals a measured approach rather than an unreserved bullish bet.

All told, the divergence between rising open interest and middling funding signals suggests a market in which investors are content to accumulate exposure through a mix of spot and regulated derivatives, yet remain wary about extending momentum without clearer catalysts. In this context, the rally to the mid-$2,300s—around the $2,350 mark at times—could prove to be a test of whether spot demand alone can sustain a more durable upside, or if a fresh burst of on-chain activity and ecosystem development is needed to push ETH back into the $2,400 realm and beyond.

DApps activity and competitive dynamics

One of the more telling questions for ETH’s medium-term trajectory is whether on-chain activity can rebound alongside price. Data tracked by DefiLlama shows Ethereum’s weekly DApps revenue sliding to about $11 million, down from roughly $24 million in February. While the burn mechanism built into Ethereum’s consensus layer continues to be cited by supporters as a structural incentive for long-term holders, near-term on-chain throughput and usage have not yet picked up in a way that would meaningfully lift network activity across the board.

Investors are also contending with an increasingly competitive landscape. While Ethereum remains the dominant smart contract platform, other blockchains focused on specialized use cases—such as high-throughput cross-chain solutions and niche dApp ecosystems—are drawing developers and users with tailored incentives and efficiency gains. This competition complicates the narrative that ETH is simply a one-way bet on rising on-chain demand. The divergence between rising price and stagnating or contracting on-chain activity underscores a nuanced risk-reward balance for traders and long-term holders alike.

What to watch next

As ETH hovers in a $2,300–$2,350 corridor, investors will be watching for a few key signals. A sustained increase in spot ETF inflows would reinforce the case for a renewed, spot-driven uptrend, especially if institutional buyers continue to accumulate ETH rather than diversify into alternatives. Conversely, a meaningful rebound in DApps activity or a shift in the funding-rate dynamic that points to stronger bullish conviction could catalyze a more decisive move toward the $2,400 level and beyond.

Macro drivers remain pivotal: any acceleration in risk appetite among traditional markets, or a rollback of tethered risk within the broader crypto ecosystem, could alter ETH’s trajectory. For now, the market presents a mixed picture—spot demand and institutional buying provide a floor, while on-chain activity and competitive pressures keep the upside under scrutiny.

This article reflects data from CoinGlass, SoSoValue, CoinGecko, Laevitas, and DefiLlama, among others, and is intended to illuminate how recent developments might shape ETH’s near-term path. As always, readers should monitor evolving liquidity, funding signals, and real-world usage to gauge whether the current rally can translate into a sustained recovery or remains a tactical pause before the next leg.

The Take It Down Act has secured its first federal conviction, with an Ohio man pleading guilty to using more than 100 AI models to create and distribute nonconsensual deepfakes of women and children, putting the first real enforcement stamp on a landmark AI-specific law.

The Take It Down Act has its first conviction. James Strahler II, a 37-year-old Columbus, Ohio man, pleaded guilty on April 7 to three federal counts: cyberstalking, producing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse material, and publishing digital forgeries, the law’s term for nonconsensual deepfakes. The Department of Justice confirmed he is the first person convicted under the law.

Between December 2024 and June 2025, Strahler used over 100 AI models to create sexually explicit images and videos of six adult victims and distribute them to their coworkers and families. He also generated deepfake content involving children and uploaded hundreds of images to a child sexual abuse website before his arrest in June 2025.

The Take It Down Act, introduced by Senators Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar and signed into law on May 19, 2025, criminalizes the knowing publication of nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated content depicting real people. It passed the Senate unanimously and the House by 409 to 2.

Penalties under the law include up to two years in prison per offense involving adult victims and up to three years when minors are involved. Strahler has not yet been sentenced.

U.S. Attorney Dominick Gerace said the prosecution sends a direct message: “We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent.”

What the Law Requires of Platforms

Beyond criminal prosecution, the Take It Down Act creates mandatory obligations for online platforms. Covered platforms, including public websites and mobile applications that host user-generated content, must remove reported nonconsensual imagery within 48 hours of a valid victim request and make reasonable efforts to find and delete identical copies.

The compliance deadline is May 19, 2026, just over a month away. Platforms that fail to establish a formal removal process face enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission. The law does not preempt state-level protections, and at least 45 states have their own AI deepfake laws in place.

Why It Matters for AI Regulation

The Take It Down Act is widely described as the first major federal law in the United States that directly restricts harmful uses of AI. Its passage reflects growing bipartisan urgency around AI-generated abuse at a moment when deepfake tools have become widely accessible. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 1.5 million AI-related exploitation tips in 2025 alone.

The same technology that enables nonconsensual intimate imagery is also fueling deepfake scams across the crypto sector, where AI-generated impersonations of prominent figures have been used to defraud investors. The deepfake crisis across financial platforms saw AI-powered vishing attacks surge 28% year over year in Q3 2025, underscoring why federal-level intervention carries broad implications beyond intimate imagery alone.

First Lady Melania Trump, who championed the legislation as part of her Be Best initiative, said she was proud of the first conviction.

Key takeaways:

• Institutional ETH accumulation remains robust as Ether ETFs and Bitmine Immersion lead a healthy, spot-driven recovery.

• Lackluster DApp revenue and negative ETH funding rates suggest that traders are skeptical of the rally.

Ether (ETH) price managed to sustain above $2,300 on Wednesday, distancing itself from the $1,940 lows seen on March 29. The recent rally has caused ETH futures open interest to reach $25.4 billion, indicating increased demand for leveraged positions. The movement suggests a potential turn in momentum for ETH bulls after 10 weeks of failed attempts to reclaim the $2,400 level.

To determine whether the shift in positioning is driven by bulls, one must assess the ETH futures funding rate. The ETH perpetual futures funding rate has failed to hold above 5% since Friday, indicating a lack of confidence among bulls. 

The metric has dipped below 0% multiple times, indicating excess demand for bearish leveraged positions. Under neutral conditions, the indicator should range between 5% and 10% to compensate for the cost of capital.

Still, one could argue that such data reinforces that Ether’s recent rally to $2,350 has been sustained by spot demand.

US-listed Ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) accumulated $248 million in net inflows over the past 10 days, validating the thesis of healthy spot-driven Ether bullish momentum. In parallel, the digital asset treasury company Bitmine Immersion (BMNR US) announced the acquisition of $312 million worth of ETH. Bitmine now holds 4.87 million ETH, equivalent to $11.46 billion.

While institutional accumulation is generally a positive sign, Bitmine’s ETH holdings are trading 13% below their acquisition cost, according to CoinGecko data. Similarly, US-listed Ether ETF assets under management stood at $13.7 billion on Wednesday, down from $20.5 billion three months prior. Ether’s failure to reclaim $2,400 also happened as the S&P 500 index jumped to a new all-time high on Wednesday.

Weak Ethereum network activity, increased competition 

Part of investors’ reduced appetite for cryptocurrencies can be pinned to the declining activity in decentralized applications (DApps). Almost every corner of the cryptocurrency industry has been negatively impacted by the 2026 bear market, including memecoin token launch platforms, synthetic derivatives trading, collateralized lending, digital collectibles, decentralized exchanges and cross chain bridges.

The few positive highlights, including prediction markets and real-world assets, had no impact on Ethereum network activity. Investors are starting to question whether ETH is well-positioned to capture an eventual surge in demand for DApps, given the emergence of competing blockchains focused on solving specific issues, such as Hyperliquid and Plasma.

Related: ETH/BTC ratio hits 10-week high as Ether outpaces Bitcoin–Are new price highs next?

Ethereum’s weekly DApps revenue has plummeted to $11 million per week, down from $24 million in early February. The primary reason for investors to accumulate ETH is the expectation of higher onchain processing demand and the subsequent burn mechanism, which creates incentives for long-term holding. 

Despite the increased demand for ETH futures, derivatives metrics failed to flip bullish. Among the potential causes are the losses in Ethereum strategic reserve companies and increased competition in the DApps industry.