Ethereum's Next Bull Run? RWAs Could Make It More Valuable, but Shakeout Risk Remains

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) has climbed 9% over the past month, far outpacing Bitcoin’s (CRYPTO: BTC) 1% gain, fueled by optimism that tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) will drive the next phase of institutional adoption.

Still, one analyst believes the market could face another shakeout before a sustained uptrend.

ETH: Foundation For Tokenized Finance Speaking on the Empire podcast on July 19, DeFi Dad said Ethereum remains the most secure and battle-tested network for decentralized finance despite growing competition from chains like Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE).

He argued Ethereum’s biggest catalyst isn’t meme coins or retail speculation—it’s tokenization. “The asset issuers need to be confident that nothing will ever happen to the assets they are issuing,” he said, pointing to ETH’s decade-long security record as a key advantage for institutions. “We’re going to see real-world assets finally eclipse all of this,” he said, adding that Ethereum doesn’t need ETH itself to be worth trillions immediately to secure trillions of dollars in tokenized assets.

DeFi Dad compared Ethereum’s role to the U.S. dollar supporting American capital markets, arguing the network becomes increasingly valuable as more financial activity settles on chain.

But Cowen Says ETH Facing August-October Risk In a podcast on July 19, crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen explained that Ethereum investors shouldn’t ignore historical market cycles where July has historically been a strong month for crypto during U.S. midterm years.

However, August and September have frequently erased those gains.

His biggest concern is “If Bitcoin goes lower, it’s going to drag ETH back down.” Looking at prior bear markets, Cowen highlighted two very different outcomes.

In 2022, Ethereum formed a higher low even as Bitcoin revisited cycle lows.

In contrast, during 2018, Ethereum failed to hold support and continued making new lows after Bitcoin stabilized.

Cowen believes 2026 will likely land somewhere between those two extremes rather than perfectly repeating either cycle.

He expects Ethereum’s biggest test to come between August and October, particularly if markets begin pricing in another Fed Reserve rate hike or renewed macro uncertainty.

Holding support at the key levels is critical for the bullish long term outlook.

For now, he expects Ethereum to remain range-bound with rallies likely encountering resistance until early next year.

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