Ethereum Holds Above $4,300, Fueled by Institutional Inflows and Upgrades
Ethereum (ETH) has shown that it can stay strong, staying above $4,300 for the past 24 hours. This is because the second-largest crypto in
Quick overview
- Ethereum has maintained a strong position above $4,300, driven by rising institutional adoption and network evolution.
- The Holešky testnet will be permanently shut down after the Fusaka fork, marking the end of a significant testing phase for Ethereum's network updates.
- The upcoming Fusaka hard fork aims to enhance scalability and improve transaction efficiency for rollups, potentially increasing the use of decentralized applications.
- Institutional interest in Ethereum is growing, with many investors preferring it over Bitcoin, as evidenced by significant investments in Ethereum Spot ETFs.
Ethereum ETH/USD has shown that it can stay strong, staying above $4,300 for the past 24 hours. This is because the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world is going through a key time of institutional adoption and network evolution. ETH is trading at about $4,372 and is at a crucial technical point as institutional demand for the cryptocurrency rises to levels never seen before.
Holešky Testnet Sunset Signals Network Maturation
The Ethereum Foundation said on Monday that Holešky, its biggest testnet, will be permanently shut down after the impending Fusaka fork. This will signal the end of a two-year testing period that was very important for making sure that major network updates worked. The testnet, which started in September 2023, helped thousands of validators test things and made important protocol changes, like as the Dencun network update and the Pectra implementation that just happened.
In early 2025, Holešky faced a lot of problems, such as “extensive inactivity leaks” that caused long departure lineups. As a result, the foundation launched the Hoodi testnet in March as a successor. The planned move to Hoodi, which already supports Pectra updates and future protocol upgrades, shows that Ethereum is committed to keeping its testing infrastructure strong before big changes to the network.
Fusaka Fork Promises Enhanced Scalability
The Fusaka hard fork, which is set for early November, is Ethereum’s next big step. It includes 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals that aim to change the way rollups access data. The goal of the upgrade is to make it easier for network validators to share data availability tasks, which could make it easier to run nodes, improve network decentralization, and increase layer-2 scalability.
This change could make rollups able to handle transactions more quickly and at far reduced prices, which would solve long-standing problems with Ethereum’s scalability. If Fusaka works well, it could lead to more people using decentralized apps and layer-2 solutions.
Wall Street Embraces Ethereum as Technology Investment
Bitwise Chief Information Officer Matt Hougan pointed out an interesting trend: more and more professional investors are skipping Bitcoin altogether and starting with Ethereum as their first cryptocurrency investment. This change shows that institutions are starting to see Ethereum’s usefulness in decentralized finance, smart contracts, and Web3 apps. Many people now see ETH as more than just digital gold; they see it as a way to get into new technology.
August 2025 was a turning point for institutional acceptance, as Ethereum Spot ETFs brought in $3.87 billion in new investments, mostly from professional investors looking for long-term exposure. BlackRock led the way with $3.38 billion in ETH investments, which was much more than its $707 million Bitcoin investment. This shows that institutions clearly prefer Ethereum’s technology over Bitcoin’s.
ETH Staking Revolution Drives Sustainable Demand
Staking contracts now hold around 36 million ETH, or 29% of the total circulating supply. This gives institutional investors about 3% in payouts every year. This staking return gives people who work in traditional finance a consistent source of dividends, which makes Ethereum more appealing for long-term portfolio allocation techniques.
The rise in staking has put a lot of downward pressure on the supply of ETH while also creating long-term demand from institutions looking for crypto assets that pay interest. This process helps keep prices stable and increases the value of ETH over time as more of it becomes illiquid through staking commitments.
ETH/USD Technical Analysis Points to Critical Decision Point
ETH is in a very important fight at the 20-day exponential moving average of $4,378, and neither bulls nor bears seem to be in charge. The EMA trend is rather flat, and the RSI is close to the middle. This suggests that the price will stay the same before the next big rise.
$4,094 is a key support level for bulls, and it is also a key defensive point. If the price drops below this level, it might cause selling pressure that pushes it down to $3,745 and maybe even $3,350. On the other hand, a clear break over the resistance level of $4,957 would mean that the uptrend is back on track and may reach $5,500.
Ethereum Price Prediction: Bullish Fundamentals Meet Technical Uncertainty
Even if Ethereum’s price has stabilized, its long-term outlook is still very positive. Joseph Lubin, the founder of Consensys, thinks that the price might go up by 100 times if big institutions start using it. Recently, transaction volumes on-chain went over $320 billion, showing that a lot of people are using DeFi and tokenized assets.
Ethereum’s technological roadmap encourages long-term growth because the supply of stablecoins on Ethereum is more than $160 billion, which is more than double what it was in January 2024. The forthcoming Glamsterdam update in 2026 is predicted to cut block times in half to 6 seconds.
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