Should you DCA ETH? My honest answer: probably not this cycle — and I say that as someone who has used Ethereum almost every single day for nearly a decade.
We’ve covered my Solana DCA plan and my Bitcoin DCA plan for August in previous blogs. I’ve also shared the coins I’m interested in buying at the bottom of the bear. ETH is noticeably missing from all of them.
That’s not an accident. Let me explain — but first, some history, because my relationship with ETH goes way back.
My decade with ETH (including the mistake)
I first saw ETH at the ICO. $0.30 per coin. And I skipped it, ha!
At the time I was deep into Counterparty — a Bitcoin layer 2 with smart contracts and NFTs on BTC. So in my mind, there was no need for a separate chain to do the same thing. Mistake on me, for sure.
I did buy in later at $7, then $11, then $18. Still early — but I missed the first free 30-60x. Whoops.
Funny enough, a friend I’ve known for almost two decades did join the ICO — and he still holds those exact ETH today, waiting for $10k to sell. Respect for the diamond hands. But think about what that means: even the OG believers who got in at $0.30 aren’t buying more. They’re waiting to sell. That’s not new demand — that’s patient exit liquidity.
Since then, ETH has been part of my daily life:
- I was deep into NFT trading during the NFT days. Apes, Punks, Penguins — you name it, I flipped it.
- I’ve been farming on ETH since the day it was possible.
- I chart it, trade it, and use it for on-chain plays every single week.
So needless to say: I’m not an ETH hater. I’m an ETH power user. Which is exactly why my answer might surprise you.
So why am I NOT DCAing ETH?
1. Two cycles of underperformance — not one, two
ETH has seriously underperformed other top 10 alts for the last two cycles. Solana, XRP, LINK — all did way better. If DCA is about accumulating an asset you expect to outperform over time (here’s my full DCA strategy guide if you’re new to it), then the track record matters. So why would I buy ETH over the coins that keep beating it?
2. I don’t need to own ETH to use ETH
Here’s the part most DCA articles won’t tell you: if I want ETH to farm with, I don’t need spot exposure at all.
I run the delta neutral loop like always: buy ETH spot to farm, short the same size elsewhere. Price goes up, price goes down — I don’t care, my farming position is hedged. And the bonus? I’m earning DEX points for the short leg, so I’m lining up an airdrop on top of my farming yield.
Same logic applies to staking plays. There will be plenty of ETH staking opportunities coming up, and I’ll play them all exactly the same way: hedged, farming the incentives, zero directional risk.
3. And that’s exactly ETH’s problem
Think about what I just described. Big capital and smart money are doing the same thing: shorting ETH to hedge their risk while they farm it. The chain gets used, but nobody’s net long.
And let’s be honest — DeFi farming isn’t exactly a retail hobby. So the “normie” money isn’t flowing into ETH either. Retail did show up partly during the NFT days, but then they missed the entire meme season, which happened mostly on Solana.
4. What does ETH have that attracts BUYERS?
Right now I see Robinhood Chain trending hard. Arc is coming. Hyperliquid is clearly the ecosystem to play in for the next bull run.
What does ETH have that will attract buyers — and I mean buyers, not farmers? I genuinely can’t think of anything that screams “I need ETH in my portfolio.” So I’ll skip it.
To be clear:
- I am for sure using ETH for plays, in my delta neutral setup.
- I am for sure charting it every day to trade the swings.
- I am, however, not buying it spot this cycle. And that’s a first in a decade.
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But I DO trade it — here’s my live ETH long
Not DCAing doesn’t mean not trading. ETH chops around beautifully, and August looks like mostly chop to me — which is exactly the environment for swing trades, not spot bags.
Last night I shorted ETH and just closed it for a nice 20% gain. Then I flipped the position and went long. Here’s the full setup:
| Entry (long) | $1,875 |
| TP1 | $1,916 — move stop to break-even here to reduce risk |
| TP2 | $1,955 |
| TP3 | $2,015 |
| Runner | ~50% of the position stays open |
| Stop loss | $1,820 |
I observe my trades all the way through, so I might cut early if I don’t like what I see on the chart. But that’s the setup for now. If you want to understand how I picked these levels, my post on bottom patterns explained covers the kind of structure I look for.
The bottom line
Should you DCA ETH? If you have a long horizon, no time to trade, and you simply want exposure to the largest smart contract chain — DCA can still make sense for you. That’s the honest answer, and my DCA strategy guide (linked above) walks through how to set it up properly.
But for me? After two cycles of underperformance, with smart money hedged instead of long, and with the exciting ecosystems living elsewhere this cycle — I’d rather DCA BTC and SOL, farm ETH delta neutral, and trade the swings for green PnL.
ETH pays my farming yields, my DEX points, and my swing trades. It just doesn’t get a spot in my long-term bags this time.
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FAQ
Should you DCA ETH in 2026? It depends on your goals. For passive long-term investors, DCAing ETH still offers exposure to the largest smart contract ecosystem. But ETH has underperformed other top 10 alts for two consecutive cycles, which is why many active traders (myself included) prefer to farm it delta neutral and trade the swings instead.
Is it better to DCA Bitcoin or Ethereum? Bitcoin has the stronger track record as a store of value and hasn’t suffered ETH’s relative underperformance. I personally DCA BTC and SOL, but not ETH.
Can you earn yield on ETH without price risk? Yes — the delta neutral approach: hold ETH spot for farming or staking, and short the same amount on a perp DEX. Your price exposure nets to zero, while you keep the farming yield and often earn DEX points toward airdrops on the short leg.
What is DCA in crypto? Dollar cost averaging means buying a fixed amount of a coin at regular intervals, regardless of price. It smooths out volatility and removes emotion from entries. Full breakdown in our DCA strategy guide.
Not financial advice. I share my own positions and reasoning — always do your own research and manage your own risk.
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