Ethereum price today: $1,610

• Ethereum Institutional has launched to accelerate institutional adoption for the smart contract blockchain.
• Funded by BitMine and Sharplink, the non-profit aims to convert institutional needs into onchain solutions by bridging the gap between builders and institutions.
• ETH eyes $1,741 after breaking above the descending trendline resistance.

Ethereum received another advocate on Wednesday following the launch of Ethereum Institutional, an independent non-profit that centers on advancing the institutional adoption of the Ethereum ecosystem — applications, L2s, tools and resources.

Founded by the Ethereum Foundation (EF) Enterprise team, Ethereum Institutional's work spans five core functions including institutional education and engagement, institutional intelligence, ETH and Ethereum ecosystem marketing, industry discovery and requirements, and institutional events. Through these areas, the non-profit aims to convert institutional needs into onchain solutions by bridging the gap between Ethereum builders — developers, infrastructure providers and protocol contributors — and institutions — banks, asset managers, custodians, market infrastructures, fintechs, sovereign institutions, etc.

"By aligning technical roadmaps with real-world use cases, surfacing demand from institutional participants, and amplifying what works, we accelerate adoption and help shape a more coherent market structure," Ethereum Institutional stated on its website.

The launch of Ethereum Institutional is primarily funded by Ethereum treasuries BitMine and Sharplink and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin. Last week, the same group funded the launch of Ethlabs, a research and development non-profit that focuses on building innovative solutions to scale Ethereum's capacity for institutional adoption.

The recent unveiling of several non-profit Ethereum stewards and advocates follows notable departures from the Ethereum Foundation (EF), including former executive directors Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak, Tim Beiko, Josh Stark, Barnabé Monnot and Trent Van Epps.

Last week, the EF announced that it had completed a major restructuring, cutting its workforce and budget by 20% and 40%, respectively. Earlier this year, the Foundation outlined plans to focus on censorship-resistant, open-source, private, and secure (CROPS) projects for end users, while following a subtraction path that leaves room for other ecosystem stewards to step up and help maintain the Ethereum protocol.

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH breaks descending trendline resistance

ETH is up 3.5% over the past 24 hours, sparking $100.3 million in liquidations, with short liquidations accounting for $67.2 million.

On the daily chart, ETH is maintaining a bearish near-term bias as it holds below the 20-, 50- and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), clustered between about $1,665 and $1,994. The top altcoin has broken above the downward resistance trendline around $1,601, but a failure to regain the $1,741 area leaves the broader structure capped.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) around 42 and a mid-range Stochastic reading hints at modest stabilization rather than a decisive rebound.

On the topside, immediate resistance is seen at the 20-day EMA near $1,665, followed by the horizontal barrier at $1,741 and the $1,806 area, with the 50-day EMA around $1,817 adding to a dense supply zone before $1,909 and $2,019 come into play.

On the downside, initial support is provided by the horizontal levels at $1,524 and $1,405 if ETH fails to hold above the descending trendline, with a deeper decline exposing the longer-term floor near $1,156.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)