What could affect the price of ETH?
Ethereum’s price is set for important changes driven by upcoming technology upgrades and shifting regulations.
- Upcoming Upgrades – Two major updates, Glamsterdam (early 2026) and Hegota (late 2026), aim to make Ethereum faster and more efficient, which could increase how much people use and want ETH.
- Regulatory Clarity – The U.S. SEC classifying ETH as a commodity may encourage big investors to get involved, but different rules around the world could slow adoption.
- Whale Accumulation – Large investors have bought 934,000 ETH (about $3.1 billion) in three weeks, showing strong confidence and reducing the amount of ETH available to trade.
Deep Dive
1. Protocol Upgrades (Positive for Price)
Overview: Ethereum plans two big upgrades in 2026. Glamsterdam, expected in the first half of the year, will introduce PeerDAS, a technology to improve how many transactions the network can handle. Hegota, coming in the second half, will use Verkle Trees to make it easier and cheaper to run Ethereum nodes (the computers that keep the network running). These changes aim to lower costs and make Ethereum more decentralized. Ethereum Foundation, CryptoGucci
What this means: By making Ethereum faster and easier to use, these upgrades could attract more developers and users, increasing activity on the network and demand for ETH. Past upgrades like Dencun have often led to price increases, suggesting good potential for growth.
2. Regulatory Developments (Mixed Effects)
Overview: In July 2025, the U.S. SEC officially classified Ethereum as a commodity, not a security, which provides clearer rules for investors. The new U.S. stablecoin law (GENIUS Act) also adds regulatory clarity. However, regulations vary globally, such as the EU’s MiCA framework, creating an uneven landscape. SEC Chair Paul Atkins, Yahoo Finance
What this means: Clearer rules in the U.S. could encourage more institutional investors and funds to buy ETH, supporting its price. But inconsistent regulations worldwide might slow adoption in some markets and cause price swings.
3. Whale Accumulation (Positive for Price)
Overview: Large investors, known as whales, have bought 934,000 ETH (around $3.1 billion) over three weeks ending December 2025. This is the biggest buying spree since 2017-2018. Santiment
What this means: This strong buying activity shows confidence in Ethereum’s future value. It also reduces the amount of ETH available for trading, which can push prices higher. Similar buying patterns have often come before big price increases.
Conclusion
Ethereum’s path in 2026 depends on the success of its technology upgrades and favorable regulatory developments, with strong support from large investors helping demand. Keep an eye on ETH’s staking activity and Layer-2 solutions as signs of growing adoption.
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What are people saying about ETH?
Ethereum’s social buzz is focused on optimistic price targets, warning signs of a potential drop, and big institutional investors stacking up – here’s the latest:
- Analysts are eyeing $3,500 as technical indicators show positive signs 📈
- Bearish patterns suggest a possible 10% price drop 🚩
- BitMine’s $480 million Ethereum stake is driving excitement about accumulation 🐋
In-Depth Look
1. @bpaynews: Ethereum Could Reach $3,549 by Mid-January Bullish
"Ethereum is trading at $3,104, with analysts predicting it could hit $3,549 by January 12. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is neutral at 52.31, and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) shows positive momentum."
– @bpaynews (2K followers · 112K+ impressions · 2026-01-11 11:30 UTC)
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What this means: The neutral RSI suggests there’s room for the price to move up if Ethereum breaks through the $3,150 resistance level. The MACD indicator points to growing bullish momentum.
2. @NiklasTheisen: Daily Indicators Suggest Caution Bearish
"The 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA200), RSI, and Supertrend indicators are all showing bearish signals. Ethereum faces strong resistance around $3,200."
– @NiklasTheisen (1.5K followers · 4.1K+ impressions · 2025-12-29 15:20 UTC)
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What this means: Multiple technical indicators are warning of a possible price drop. If momentum weakens, Ethereum could retest support near $2,900.
3. @IngJuanPa7: Institutions Stake 2.17M ETH, Showing Confidence Bullish
"Ethereum’s staking queue has reached 2.17 million ETH (worth about $6.7 billion), largely due to BitMine’s $480 million stake. There’s a 37-day delay before these stakes become active."
– @IngJuanPa7 (6.5K followers · 35.6K+ impressions · 2026-01-06 13:59 UTC)
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What this means: Large-scale staking by institutions reduces the amount of Ethereum available for trading, which can support the price. The waiting period for activation suggests a steady accumulation phase over several weeks.
Conclusion
The outlook for Ethereum is mixed. Technical traders are split between hopes for a breakout and concerns about a correction. Meanwhile, on-chain data shows strong institutional buying. Keep an eye on the $3,150 resistance level—a clear break above it could confirm bullish targets, while failure might lead to profit-taking and a drop toward $2,900. Among all the signals, one stands out: 2.17 million ETH waiting to be staked highlights long-term confidence that could outweigh short-term price swings.
What is the latest news about ETH?
Ethereum’s ecosystem is growing with more institutional involvement and network activity, even as regulatory challenges continue. Here are the key updates:
- Standard Chartered Prime Brokerage (January 13, 2026) – A major bank is launching crypto prime brokerage services that include custody and trading of Ethereum (ETH) for institutional clients.
- World Liberty Lending Platform (January 13, 2026) – A new decentralized finance (DeFi) platform lets users lend ETH and stablecoins, with governance rights for token holders.
- ETH Staking Queue Reaches 2.17 Million ETH (January 13, 2026) – A big increase in ETH being staked shows strong confidence in the network, despite delays in activation.
Deep Dive
1. Standard Chartered Prime Brokerage (January 13, 2026)
Overview: Standard Chartered, through its innovation arm SC Ventures, is launching a crypto prime brokerage service. This will provide custody (secure storage), tokenization, and market access for institutional investors. The service builds on the bank’s existing Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) trading capabilities and partnerships with Coinbase and OKX. To manage regulatory capital requirements under Basel III, the bank will operate this business within its venture capital unit.
What this means: This move is positive for Ethereum because it opens up more regulated access for large investors, increasing liquidity and demand. However, ongoing reviews by the Basel Committee on crypto capital rules could delay full rollout.
(Bitcoinist)
2. World Liberty Launches Dolomite Lending (January 13, 2026)
Overview: World Liberty Financial has introduced a new lending platform built on Ethereum using Dolomite’s technology. It supports lending with ETH, a USD1 stablecoin, and cbBTC (a Bitcoin token). The platform includes governance features allowing token holders to vote on collateral types and plans to add real-world asset (RWA) integration. World Liberty is also pursuing a U.S. trust bank charter to ensure regulatory compliance.
What this means: This development is good news for Ethereum because it expands decentralized finance (DeFi) options and stablecoin use, while connecting traditional finance with blockchain. Regulatory approval is still pending, which adds some uncertainty.
(Crypto.News)
3. ETH Staking Queue Reaches 2.17 Million ETH (January 13, 2026)
Overview: The amount of Ethereum waiting to be staked has jumped to 2.17 million ETH (worth about $6.7 billion), with a 37-day delay before activation. Meanwhile, only 11,000 ETH have been withdrawn. A large $480 million staking move by BitMine contributed to this backlog, showing strong interest from validators despite network congestion.
What this means: This is a positive sign for Ethereum, indicating strong investor confidence in the network’s security and rewards. However, the long wait times may discourage some short-term participants.
(Binance)
Conclusion
Ethereum’s growth is driven by increasing institutional adoption, innovative DeFi platforms, and strong staking demand, even as regulatory uncertainty remains. The key question for 2026 is whether Basel III regulatory adjustments will speed up or slow down Ethereum’s integration into mainstream finance.
What is expected in the development of ETH?
Ethereum’s development is moving forward with these key updates planned for 2026:
- Glamsterdam Upgrade (First Half of 2026) – Improves scalability by optimizing gas fees and enhancing resistance to censorship.
- Hegota Upgrade (Second Half of 2026) – Introduces Verkle Trees to make running nodes easier and promote decentralization.
- Rollup-Centric Scaling & Ethereum Settlement Score (ESS) – Focuses on strengthening Layer 2 (L2) security and reliability.
In-Depth Look
1. Glamsterdam Upgrade (First Half of 2026)
What it is:
Glamsterdam is set to launch in early 2026 and aims to make Ethereum faster and more efficient. It uses technologies like Block Access Lists (BALs), which reduce unnecessary gas costs by optimizing how smart contracts access data. It also includes Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), a method that separates block building and proposing roles to reduce centralization risks related to Miner Extractable Value (MEV) (CryptoGucci).
Why it matters:
This upgrade could boost Ethereum’s mainnet speed to around 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) and make it easier for validators (the network’s security participants) to do their job. However, there’s a chance of delays if testing uncovers major issues.
2. Hegota Upgrade (Second Half of 2026)
What it is:
Hegota combines improvements from the execution layer (“Bogota”) and consensus layer (“Heze”) and focuses on implementing Verkle Trees. Verkle Trees are a new way to store blockchain data that can reduce the hardware requirements for running a node by up to 90%. This means more people can run nodes, which helps keep Ethereum decentralized and secure (CoinMarketCap).
Why it matters:
This upgrade is generally positive because it makes it easier for users to participate in the network. However, it’s a complex change that needs thorough testing to avoid potential issues with managing blockchain data.
3. Rollup-Centric Roadmap & Ethereum Settlement Score (ESS)
What it is:
Ethereum developers are working on the Ethereum Settlement Score (ESS), a way to measure how well Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum and Base use Ethereum’s security features. ESS looks at factors like how assets are managed and how resistant the system is to censorship. The goal is to reach “Stage 4” rollups that offer security comparable to Ethereum’s mainnet (ethresear.ch).
Why it matters:
In the long run, higher ESS scores could attract big investors to Ethereum-based L2s, boosting their growth. However, many L2 transactions still rely on external bridges, which can be a weak point in security and user experience.
Conclusion
Ethereum’s 2026 roadmap focuses on improving scalability (Glamsterdam), decentralization (Hegota), and Layer 2 security (ESS). These upgrades are crucial for maintaining Ethereum’s leadership in smart contracts. With innovations like zero-knowledge proofs and Verkle Trees coming, Ethereum aims to close the gap with faster blockchains like Solana, offering both speed and security.
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What updates are there in the ETH code base?
Ethereum’s software received major updates in late 2025, focusing on making the network faster, more secure, and better at supporting Layer-2 solutions.
- Fusaka Upgrade (December 3, 2025) – Introduced PeerDAS, a new way to handle data that boosts network capacity by 8 times.
- Osaka Fork Preparation (September 2025) – Backend improvements for new transaction types and tools for network validators.
- Security Enhancements (September 2025) – Improved gas limits and added early support for quantum-resistant cryptography.
Deep Dive
1. Fusaka Upgrade (December 3, 2025)
Overview: This update marked Ethereum’s 17th major network upgrade, starting a schedule of twice-yearly improvements. The key feature, PeerDAS (EIP-7594), allows validators to check data samples instead of storing entire blocks, making the network more efficient.
Key technical changes:
- Increased the number of data blobs per block from 6 to 14 (up to 21 max)
- Introduced a minimum fee for blobs to keep Layer-2 transaction costs stable
- Enabled over 300 terabytes of data per year for rollups (Layer-2 scaling solutions)
What this means: This is good news for Ethereum (ETH) holders because it lowers transaction fees on Layer-2 networks like Arbitrum and OP Mainnet without sacrificing security or decentralization. Users can expect faster transaction confirmations. (Source)
2. Osaka Fork Codebase Changes (September 2025)
Overview: These backend updates prepared the network for new blob transaction formats and ensured older transactions remain compatible. Recent code changes include:
- Improvements to the transaction pool for handling atomic blob conversions
- New tools for analyzing transaction data with KECCAK256 hashing
- Strengthened gas pricing logic to prevent manipulation by miners or bots
What this means: There’s no immediate impact for users, but developers and node operators need to update their software by December 3 to avoid network issues. Delays could cause splits in the blockchain during the blob parameter changes.
3. Security & Future-Proofing (September 2025)
Overview: Updates focused on:
- Adding the "Count Leading Zeros" opcode (EIP-7939) to improve zero-knowledge proof efficiency
- Supporting the secp256r1 cryptographic curve for better hardware wallet and passkey compatibility
- Implementing a dynamic gas limit to balance transaction speed and node performance
What this means: These changes strengthen Ethereum’s security and prepare it for future technologies like quantum computing. Developers building decentralized apps (dApps) will need to review their smart contracts to ensure compatibility with the new opcodes.
Conclusion
Ethereum’s recent updates focus on scaling data layers with PeerDAS and enhancing security against emerging threats. While the full benefits of the Fusaka upgrade will become clear throughout 2026, the faster upgrade cycle shows strong developer commitment—11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) were implemented in 2025 alone.
Could these improvements position ETH as the go-to settlement layer for emerging AI and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN)?
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Why did the price of ETH fall?
Ethereum (ETH) dropped 0.86% in the past 24 hours, continuing a 7-day decline of 2.86%, despite a modest 0.51% gain over the last 30 days. This performance lagged behind the overall crypto market, which fell 0.36%. Three main factors influenced this trend:
- Spot ETF Outflows – Institutional investors pulled money out after a brief inflow, showing weak demand.
- Shift to Bitcoin – Investors moved funds to Bitcoin (BTC), increasing its market dominance to 58.7%.
- Technical Resistance – ETH struggled to rise above $3,140, leading to selling pressure.
Deep Dive
1. Spot ETF Outflows (Negative Impact)
Overview: U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs saw a small inflow of $5.27 million on January 12 after four days of withdrawals. However, total outflows for the week exceeded $685 million (TraderT). BlackRock’s ETHA fund alone experienced $79.65 million in outflows on January 12.
What this means: When ETFs face outflows, they must sell Ethereum to meet redemptions, adding selling pressure to the market. The recent inflow was too small to change the overall negative trend, leaving ETH vulnerable to more selling.
2. Shift to Bitcoin (Negative Impact)
Overview: Bitcoin’s share of the total crypto market rose from 58.48% to 58.7% in 24 hours, while the Altcoin Season Index stayed low at 28 (CoinMarketCap).
What this means: Investors are moving money from altcoins like Ethereum to Bitcoin, often seen as a safer choice during uncertain times. This shift reduces buying interest in ETH, especially when Bitcoin is performing better.
3. Technical Resistance (Negative Impact)
Overview: Ethereum’s price hovered near a key resistance level at $3,140 after forming a symmetrical triangle pattern for months but failed to break above it (coinlive.me).
What this means: Failing to break this price point triggered automatic and short-term selling. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for ETH is at 51, indicating neutral momentum, but if the price closes below $3,100, losses could speed up.
What to watch: A strong daily close above $3,140 would suggest a possible bullish turnaround.
Conclusion
Outflows from spot ETFs, rising Bitcoin dominance, and technical resistance combined to put downward pressure on Ethereum. While large investors (whales) are still accumulating ETH, signaling long-term confidence, short-term market sentiment remains weak.
Key point to watch: U.S. spot ETH ETF flows on January 13 for signs of ongoing institutional interest.