Year-to-date performance is the change between a stated start-of-year price and a later price on the same market. It is not a forecast, not your personal return, and not the drop from an earlier high.
Ethereum does not publish a dollar price. Ether is the asset used to pay fees and to stake, and no central party sets what it is worth in dollars. A year-to-date percentage is only as meaningful as the two prints you name: the venue, the candle date, and whether that candle has finished.
Worked example, reviewed October 6, 2026
One venue, two finished daily closes
These figures are Coinbase Exchange ETH-USD daily candles. Coinbase documents each candle as the bucket start time, then low, high, open, close, and volume. A response can include a neighboring bucket, so the date that matters is the bucket start, not whichever row appears first.
- Year-start baseline
- Candle starting December 31, 2025 at 00:00 UTC. Close: $2,966.84.
- Later finished close
- Candle starting October 5, 2026 at 00:00 UTC. Close: $2,709.60.
- Change
- $2,709.60 minus $2,966.84 is $257.24 lower. Divided by $2,966.84, that is 8.67 percent lower when rounded to two decimal places.
The October 6, 2026 candle was still open during this review, so it is not the endpoint. An open candle’s close can change before the day finishes.
December 31 and January 1 are not the same print
The January 1, 2026 candle on the same market opened at $2,966.68, sixteen cents under the December 31 close, and closed at $3,000.41. If you pair that January 1 close with the October 5 close, the change is about 9.69 percent lower, not 8.67 percent. The gap is the starting convention. Say which print you used before you compare two percentages.
What this number leaves out
- A fall from an earlier high is a different measurement. Do not label that drawdown as year to date.
- Your result depends on the price you paid, what you sold, and the fees you paid. This example is not that result.
- Staking can pay additional ETH for validating the network. Those rewards are not inside a spot-price percentage, and the rate changes. The staking guide covers the options and the risks.
- Another exchange can print a different daily close. Stay on one market when you compare.
- Coinbase says historical candle data may be incomplete where no trades printed.
This page does not publish a 2026 price target. A bank or analyst target is that institution’s view. It is not a year-to-date result, and it is not checked here.
How to recheck it
- 1
Pick one market and name it. This example uses Coinbase Exchange ETH-USD.
- 2
Use the daily close from the candle that starts at 00:00 UTC on December 31, 2025, unless you are explicitly using a January 1 open or close instead.
- 3
Use the latest daily candle that has already finished. Skip a candle that is still open.
- 4
Subtract the baseline from the later close, then divide that difference by the baseline. A negative result means the later close was lower.
- 5
Write down the venue, both candle dates, and the day you checked. The next finished close will not match today’s percentage.
A personal figure is a different job
The ETH investment calculator can price a dollar amount on two dates you choose. It reads Coinbase Exchange daily ETH-USD candles, then values both amounts at the live spot price when that price is available. Fees, slippage, and taxes are not included. If the price request fails, it does not fill in a guess. That compare result is a personal what-if, not the market year-to-date figure above.
The portfolio tracker looks up ETH for an address you enter and can compare an amount and average price you type in. That is your entered position, not this market year-to-date change.
Year-to-date FAQ
What does Ethereum year-to-date performance mean?
Year-to-date performance is the change from a stated start-of-year price to a later price on the same market. On this page, the baseline is the Coinbase Exchange ETH-USD daily close for the candle that starts at 00:00 UTC on December 31, 2025. A different venue, or January 1’s open versus its close, is a different measurement. It is not a forecast.
Was Ethereum down about 52 percent year to date in 2026?
Not on the prints reviewed here. A drop from an earlier high is not a year-to-date figure. On October 6, 2026, the Coinbase Exchange ETH-USD daily candle starting December 31, 2025 closed at $2,966.84, and the candle starting October 5, 2026 closed at $2,709.60. That is $257.24 lower, or 8.67 percent lower when rounded to two decimal places. Those are one venue’s completed daily closes, not a personal return and not a price target.
Should I use December 31 or January 1 as the starting price?
Say which print you used. The December 31, 2025 UTC daily close on Coinbase Exchange was $2,966.84. The January 1, 2026 candle on the same market opened at $2,966.68 and closed at $3,000.41. Using that January 1 close with the October 5 close produces a drop of about 9.69 percent, not 8.67 percent. The gap is the convention, not a second official Ethereum price.
Does year-to-date performance include staking rewards?
No. The figure on this page is a change in the dollar price of ETH on one market. Staking can pay additional ETH for validating the network. That reward is a separate measurement, and the rate changes. Read the staking guide and ethereum.org before adding a reward rate to a price change.
Can this page tell me where ETH will finish 2026?
No. A year-to-date percentage describes two prices that already printed. It does not say where the next close will be, and this page does not publish a 2026 price target.
Why does another site show a different percentage?
It may be using another exchange, a January 1 open or close instead of the December 31 close, an unfinished candle, or a drop from an earlier high. Match the venue, the two candle dates, and whether each candle has finished before comparing the percentages.
Evidence reviewed October 6, 2026
Primary sources
The dollar figures are Coinbase Exchange ETH-USD daily closes for the buckets starting December 31, 2025 and October 5, 2026, read on October 6, 2026. Match the bucket start time if a response also includes a neighboring day. Ethereum.org describes ether as the native asset used for fees and staking, and staking rewards as payment for validating. Neither page sets a dollar year-to-date result. The staking page’s own last update line said February 12, 2025 when reviewed, so a reward rate shown there should be rechecked rather than copied.
- Coinbase Exchange: Get product candles — daily bucket fields and the incomplete-history note
- Coinbase Exchange ETH-USD daily candles covering the December 31, 2025 bucket, read October 6, 2026
- Coinbase Exchange ETH-USD daily candles covering the October 5, 2026 bucket, read October 6, 2026
- ethereum.org — What is ether (ETH)? Page last update August 6, 2026
- ethereum.org — Staking. Rewards are for validating and are separate from the dollar price