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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has named quantum resistance, scalability and privacy as three of Ethereum's top priorities under a new "Lean Ethereum" strawmap, which lays out the network's technical direction for the remainder of the decade. 

In a post to X on Saturday, Buterin said the collection of upgrades will roll out over the next three to four years, touching nearly every layer of Ethereum in a transformation he compared in scale to the September 2022 Merge, which shifted the network away from energy-intensive mining. 

“Quantum safety has shifted up a LOT in priority,” he said, adding that finalizing a quantum-safe solution for blobs has “become urgent.” Enhancing privacy is another priority, Buterin said, stating that it has become a “first class goal.”

The “Lean Ethereum” strawmap timeline from 2026 through to 2029. Source: Strawmap.org

The change in roadmap comes amid a series of changes at the Ethereum Foundation, which laid off roughly 20% of its staff last month in a bid to become leaner and reduce its budget by 40%.

The leaner structure comes on top of several executive departures in recent months, including Hsiao-Wei Wang and Tomasz Stańczak, while protocol contributors Tim Beiko and Barnabé Monnot also left in May.

Buterin is also pushing for the development of a new virtual machine like leanISA or RISC-V to support programmable privacy and better scalability.

Questions remain over Buterin’s timelineDankrad Feist, a researcher behind the payments-focused layer-1 Tempo blockchain, praised the new plan but argued the 3-4 year timeline is too slow, stating that AI could help developers ship the upgrades within a year. 

Crypto analyst Ignas Fiodorovas was also in favor of the plan but cast doubt on the Ethereum Foundation's ability to deliver the upgrades within the stated timeline, citing the organization's history of missing deadlines. 

Fiodorovas said the only key feature missing from the roadmap was improved tokenomics for Ether (ETH), which has continued to slide in price amid a broader market downturn. 

Magazine: Bitcoin decouples from tech stocks, Ether eyes ‘selling wave’: Market Moves

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Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, has announced the “Lean Ethereum” roadmap, outlining the network’s next three to four years of technical evolution. The comprehensive strategy introduces far-reaching changes aimed at strengthening security, scalability, privacy, and the long-term technical resilience of Ethereum’s protocol.

Quantum-proof security and scaling take center stageAmong the most striking elements of Buterin’s roadmap is a focus on preparing Ethereum for the risks posed by future quantum computing advances. To address this, core cryptographic components that remain vulnerable to quantum attacks are slated to be gradually replaced with post-quantum alternatives.

Vitalik Buterin is prioritizing the elimination of Ethereum’s remaining quantum vulnerabilities and preparing the network for next-generation computing threats.

Another key pillar in the plan is integrating native recursive STARK verification into Ethereum. This innovation will enable more efficient validation of complex transactions, directly supporting the network’s ambitions for greater security and scalability.

Mini glossary: STARK is a cryptographic technology that allows one to prove the correctness of computations or transactions without revealing all underlying data. Recursive STARKs let these proofs validate each other, enabling much larger data volumes to be handled more efficiently.

Buterin is also proposing a new structure labeled “scalable state architecture.” This model is projected to support approximately 100 terabytes of data capacity by 2030. With this approach, transaction costs for specific token types could be reduced more than tenfold, and the network’s on-chain data capacity would see significant expansion.

The roadmap’s vision for boosting Ethereum’s transaction throughput also features the Glasterdam upgrade. Buterin anticipates that this update will markedly raise the network’s gas limit, allowing each block to process more transactions and computational workloads than ever before.

Privacy is elevated to a core directionBut the focus extends beyond speed and security. Buterin has also positioned privacy as one of Ethereum’s fundamental ambitions. In this context, virtual machine designs based on RISC V or leanISA are planned to enable scalable programmable privacy while maintaining performance.

This strategy signals a shift: privacy is set to move from being an optional feature to a core architectural goal of the Ethereum network. The scope of these proposed changes is seen as comparable to The Merge update in 2022, which transitioned Ethereum from proof of work to proof of stake.

Although Buterin’s roadmap sets forth an ambitious technical vision, its realization will rely on implementing a series of complex updates over the coming years. As a result, the Ethereum Foundation, which has recently undergone structural changes, may face even greater pressure to deliver. The Foundation remains a central force in driving Ethereum’s core research and development efforts.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Is the Ethereum [ETH] resurgence underway? The leading altcoin’s bulls have defended the $1,560 support level twice in June. At the time of writing, the price was at $1,767 and inching toward the psychological $2k mark.

AMBCrypto reported that a whale had taken a $9 million loss after closing a short position on ETH worth $54.1 million. The futures market data showed more active participation from retail traders.

Alongside this potential short‑term revival, the monthly chart flashed a buy signal. The last two times this signal appeared, Ethereum rallied 235% and 182%, respectively.

Source: CryptoQuant On the 3rd of July, ETH’s Funding Rate leapt to 0.0136%, matching the highs it reached in the first few days of June. Yet, Ethereum was trading much lower than it had been a month ago.

Funding Rates rising to highs from early June, while prices stabilized above the $1,560 local lows, suggested a long-side bias has built ahead of a structural recovery, pointed out crypto analyst Zizcrypto on CryptoQuant Insights.

Source: ETH/USD on TradingView The structure remained bearish on the 1-day price chart. AMBCrypto reported that a double-bottom just above the $1.5k mark was formed lately. To climb back to the $2,000 level, the $1.8k level must be flipped to support first.

Even if this level is flipped to support, the Fibonacci retracement levels emphasized that a bounce to $2.1k-2.2k would still be one for swing traders to sell.

A clean breakout past $2,466, the recent swing high on this timeframe, is needed to flip the structure from bearish to bullish.

Exploring the Ethereum builder divergence Something has changed about Ethereum. The divergence between speculative capital inflow and network utility was getting more profound. It is possible that this scenario could lead to a price appreciation.

Source: CryptoQuant Notably, crypto analyst Crypto Onchain wrote that new smart contract deployments have surged 303% compared to the 90-day average. Meanwhile, Binance stablecoin netflows were down by 887%, averaging a daily outflow of $170 million.

The analyst believed that this was a “builder’s phase” where, as traders stepped out of the market, developers were moving into the ecosystem. Soon, a utility-driven price momentum move could commence.

It will hinge on recovering macroeconomic conditions, increased demand and liquidity conditions, and a recovery in investor confidence.

Final Summary Ethereum’s funding rate climbed to highs last seen in early June, even as its price structure deteriorated sharply over the past month. The increase in smart contract deployment alongside falling trading activity illustrated a “builder’s phase” divergence.

Altcoins

5 July 2026 | 10:25 Ethereum is caught in a striking split: its co-founder just unveiled ambitious roadmap, even as the token defends the exact line separating a five-year uptrend from a breakdown. In between sits the quiet proof that matters most, institutions keep building on Ethereum regardless of price.

Key Takeaways Vitalik Buterin unveiled “Lean Ethereum,” a three-to-four-year rebuild of the protocol. It prioritizes quantum resistance, privacy, scalability, and a leaner architecture. ETH sits at $1,763, exactly on the 100-month average that has held since 2022. Crédit Agricole just launched a euro stablecoin on Ethereum, which hosts 52% of the market. There’s a striking split in Ethereum right now. On one side, its co-founder has just laid out the most ambitious technical roadmap since the network abandoned mining, a multi-year plan to rebuild almost everything about how Ethereum works. On the other, the token itself is sitting on the exact line that separates a five-year uptrend from its first structural break. And in between those two extremes sits the quiet evidence that may matter most: institutions keep building on ETH regardless of what the price does. Put together, these three threads tell a coherent story about where Ethereum actually stands in mid-2026, ambitious in vision, fragile in price, and increasingly entrenched as financial infrastructure.

Vitalik’s Blueprint for the Next Ethereum On July 4, Buterin published on X what he calls “Lean Ethereum,” describing it not as a single upgrade but as the network’s third major iteration after the original launch and the 2022 Merge. The framing matters: this isn’t another routine hard fork. It’s a coordinated sequence of work, scoped across the next three to four years, that touches nearly every layer of the protocol, verification, consensus, execution, state storage, privacy, and cryptography.

The headline priorities are clear. Quantum resistance has, in Buterin’s words, “shifted up a LOT in priority,” with quantum-safe designs for ETH’s data “blobs” now treated as urgent. Privacy gets elevated from an optional, application-level feature to something built into the protocol itself; as Buterin put it, “privacy is no longer an afterthought, it is a first-class goal.” And the scalability work is sweeping: continued gas-limit and blob increases, faster slot times, and a new “scalable state” architecture that could expand to roughly 100 terabytes by 2030 while cutting transaction costs for some token types by more than tenfold.

Ethereum’s scaling trajectory alongside its long-term technical roadmap. Perhaps the most far-reaching idea is a possible move beyond the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Buterin floated transitioning the protocol toward a leaner execution environment built on architectures like RISC-V or leanISA, with today’s EVM eventually becoming a compatibility layer rather than the core engine. Alongside that sits a shift away from every node re-executing every transaction, replaced by recursive STARK proofs that verify correctness mathematically, one prover does the heavy lifting, everyone else checks a compact proof.

The unifying theme is exactly what the name suggests: a leaner, simpler, more defensible Ethereum. As Buterin summed it up, “Ethereum is scaling. Ethereum is reinventing itself.”

Two weeks ago, Ethereum researchers met in Berlin to continue charting the protocol’s long-term trajectory, following along discussions with client teams in Svalbard in April.

The updated strawmap is at https://t.co/HZEerH1xxI, and I attached a picture of it to this post.

My… pic.twitter.com/KPGayHSySf

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 4, 2026

There are two things worth holding in view before treating any of this as done. First, the timeline: nothing in Lean Ethereum changes the network in 2026. This is a “strawmap,” Ethereum’s term for a working plan that is explicitly not a locked schedule, with forks spread across the rest of the decade and core post-quantum work targeted around 2029. It’s a direction, not a delivery date.

That priority draws support from outside the core developer world, too. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee has argued that Ethereum may be better positioned than Bitcoin to handle future quantum-computing risks, precisely because it can upgrade both its protocol and its wallets as threats evolve. He’s also pointed out that many smart-contract platforms are increasingly using formal verification to keep code “pristine and basically resistant to exploit.” Lee expressed confidence that “the Bitcoin community is going to figure this out,” but his view is that Ethereum has more flexibility to push protocol-level security upgrades if quantum threats become real, which is exactly the adaptability the Lean Ethereum roadmap is designed to formalize.

Second, the context. The roadmap arrives while the Ethereum Foundation is in the middle of restructuring, having cut roughly 20% of its staff to reduce spending, with several notable contributor departures this year. That’s the tension critics have flagged: an enormously ambitious multi-year plan announced by an organization that just got smaller. Whether the reorganized Foundation and its client teams can convert this vision into time-bound deliverables is the open question the roadmap can’t answer on its own.

The Price Is Fighting for Its Foundation While the roadmap looks years ahead, the ETH chart is fighting a battle happening right now, and it’s happening at a precise level. ETH trades at $1,763, sitting almost exactly on its 100-month simple moving average at $1,762. That line, converging with the long-term ascending trendline drawn from the 2022 lows, is the same confluence zone that marked the 2022 bear-market bottom and the 2025 low near $1,400. It’s the line separating a five-year uptrend from its first genuine structural break.

ETH/USD monthly macro technical chart on Coinbase / Source: TradingView June closed as a large red monthly candle that sliced through that 100-month average intraday. July has clawed it back, up 12.35% month-to-date. A monthly close above $1,762 keeps the multi-year structure intact; a close below it, and below the trendline, would be the first break of that ascending support since 2022.

The rest of the picture demands caution. The real ceiling is the 50-month SMA at $2,387, roughly 35% overhead, the level that capped every bounce through early 2026, and it’s now flattening and beginning to roll over for the first time since 2023. Monthly RSI at 42.18, below its signal line, is the weakest monthly momentum since the 2022 bottom, though it hasn’t yet printed the sub-35 readings that marked that low. Zoom out and the macro structure is a series of lower highs, from above $4,800 in 2021 to roughly $4,900 in 2025, before the 2026 collapse to $1,550 in June. ETH has round-tripped its entire 2024-2025 rally and sits back at levels first crossed in 2021. The +12% July candle, in other words, is a defense of the last long-term support, not yet a reversal.

The Quiet Proof Underneath the Price Here’s where the two extremes, grand roadmap and fragile chart, get reconciled by a third thread that gets far less attention: while the token is fighting, institutions keep choosing Ethereum as their settlement layer. The clearest recent example landed on July 1, when Crédit Agricole, one of Europe’s largest banks, launched its euro-denominated stablecoin, EURXT, issued on the blockchain through its asset-servicing arm CACEIS.

The details underline how serious it is. EURXT is a MiCA-compliant electronic money token, pegged 1:1 to the euro, backed by dedicated cash reserves, and it was used immediately to settle a subscription into a tokenized Amundi money market fund, described as the first such settlement of a tokenized Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS fund in a euro stablecoin at the European level. This is a systemically important European bank routing real tokenized finance through Ethereum’s rails, not experimenting on a testnet.

And Crédit Agricole isn’t an outlier. ETH remains the dominant blockchain for stablecoins, hosting $162.6 billion, or 52.4% of the entire market, according to data from Artemis. Tron sits second at $89.3 billion (28.8%), while BNB Chain (5.4%) and Solana (5.2%) trail far behind. Together, Ethereum and Tron account for 81.2% of all stablecoin supply.

Breakdown of market share across major blockchain networks / Source: Artemis That concentration matters because stablecoins are the primary source of liquidity across crypto, the chains holding the largest balances see the most trading, DeFi activity, payments, and institutional adoption. Ethereum’s commanding lead is the tangible version of the case the roadmap makes in theory: this is where tokenized dollars, and increasingly tokenized funds, actually live.

Where Ethereum Actually Stands The roadmap is Ethereum’s long-term bet, that it can out-engineer its rivals on scalability, privacy, and quantum security rather than compete on marketing, and it’s a bet that won’t pay off, or fail, for years. The chart is the short-term reality, a token defending its last major support with weak momentum, having given back years of gains. And the stablecoin and bank-adoption data is the present-tense evidence that Ethereum’s institutional foundation is deepening even through the price weakness.

Its price says the market has lost conviction; its infrastructure says the opposite. A bank issuing a regulated euro stablecoin on Ethereum, and half the entire stablecoin market living there, are not the signals of a network in decline, even as the token tests a line it hasn’t broken in five years. The roadmap describes where Ethereum wants to go, the chart describes how much doubt surrounds it right now, and the adoption data describes the foundation that has to hold for the ambition to matter. Which of those wins out is the question the next few years, and the next few monthly closes, probably will answer.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Consult a professional before making investment decisions.

Author

Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.

Key Highlights Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin has announced the “Lean Ethereum” initiative, a comprehensive upgrade plan spanning 2026 through 2029 with changes comparable to the 2022 Merge Quantum defense has been significantly elevated as a priority concern, with immediate focus on developing quantum-resistant blob architecture Privacy features are transitioning from optional add-ons to fundamental layer-1 protocol components Developers are considering implementing a secondary virtual machine—either leanISA or RISC-V—to complement the current EVM Skeptics express concern about the Ethereum Foundation’s track record of meeting projected deadlines Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-creator, has released an extensive strategic roadmap dubbed “Lean Ethereum” that outlines the network’s evolution through the end of the decade. The comprehensive blueprint addresses fundamental protocol changes across multiple technical layers.

The announcement came via X on Saturday, with Buterin outlining a three-to-four-year implementation timeline. He drew parallels to the transformative September 2022 Merge that transitioned Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus.

Two weeks ago, Ethereum researchers met in Berlin to continue charting the protocol's long-term trajectory, following along discussions with client teams in Svalbard in April.

The updated strawmap is at https://t.co/HZEerH1xxI, and I attached a picture of it to this post.

My… pic.twitter.com/KPGayHSySf

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) July 4, 2026

This strategic vision emerged from collaborative discussions at a Berlin research summit, where core developers and technical researchers convened to reassess the network’s long-term trajectory.

Quantum Threats Drive Accelerated Defense Timeline A notable recalibration in priorities involves quantum computing resistance. Buterin emphasized that quantum defense “has shifted up a LOT in priority,” characterizing the development of quantum-resistant blob infrastructure as “urgent.”

The strategic blueprint mandates elimination of all quantum-susceptible elements throughout the protocol stack. Engineers have already initiated development on quantum-secure blob architecture.

Additionally, the roadmap introduces recursive STARKs as fundamental layer-1 infrastructure, superseding the existing direct re-execution verification methodology.

Privacy Elevated to Protocol Foundation Privacy capabilities have been promoted from supplementary features to essential layer-1 objectives. Buterin noted this now encompasses critical areas including mempool architecture and state tree structure.

This represents a fundamental architectural transformation. Historically, privacy functionality within Ethereum existed primarily at the application tier rather than being embedded in the base protocol.

The roadmap also contemplates introducing an alternative virtual machine. Buterin suggested Ethereum might deploy leanISA or RISC-V parallel to the existing EVM, ultimately aiming for a more streamlined and efficient protocol foundation.

Regarding consensus mechanisms, the plan aims to achieve one- to two-round finality by separating the availability chain from finality processes. This approach seeks to enhance security while minimizing latency.

For state management, Buterin indicated Ethereum will maintain its current dynamic state architecture while incorporating additional state categories to boost scalability. Projections suggest that by 2030, Ethereum will manage 2 TB of dynamic state alongside 100 TB of newer state formats. Transitioning applications such as tokens and NFTs to these new state structures could reduce transaction costs by over tenfold.

Implementation Timeline Faces Scrutiny The proposed timeline has generated skepticism within the community. Researcher Dankrad Feist, while endorsing the strategic direction, argued that the three-to-four-year timeframe is unnecessarily prolonged, proposing that AI-assisted development tools could compress delivery to one year.

Crypto analyst Ignas Fiodorovas similarly supported the roadmap’s objectives but questioned the Ethereum Foundation’s capacity to honor its commitments, citing historical precedents of missed deadlines.

Fiodorovas also identified a critical omission: enhanced tokenomics for Ether itself, which has experienced sustained price depreciation throughout recent market turbulence.

This roadmap follows the Ethereum Foundation’s decision last month to reduce headcount by approximately 20%, part of a broader 40% budget contraction. Several prominent contributors have also exited recently, including protocol developers Tim Beiko and Barnabé Monnot.

Vitalik Buterin has outlined Lean Ethereum, a sweeping redesign he calls the network’s third major evolution after the Merge. The upgrades will roll out across three to four years, touching nearly every core part of the protocol.

Buterin shared the plan through a public roadmap he calls the strawmap, an Ethereum Foundation draft. He said almost every major piece will be replaced, calling the effort ambitious yet low-risk.

What Lean Ethereum ChangesRecursive STARKs sit at the center. The cryptographic proof system would verify the chain rather than force every node to re-execute transactions. Buterin wants these proofs enshrined as a core protocol component.

Quantum safety has also jumped up the list. The roadmap swaps quantum-vulnerable cryptography for hash-based schemes built to outlast quantum computers. The shift echoes NIST, the US standards body that finalized its first post-quantum encryption standards in 2024.

The most disruptive change targets how Ethereum stores data. Buterin would keep today’s core protocol architecture largely intact. He would add a restrictive new state type that scales toward 100 TB by 2030.

Rewriting an ERC-20 token or non-fungible token (NFT) into that format could cut fees more than 10x. Complex apps like decentralized exchanges would stay put.

Privacy becomes a first-class goal, not an afterthought, extending Buterin’s broader privacy push. Nearer term, the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade should raise the gas limit.

Buterin has reason for confidence. The 2022 Merge moved Ethereum to proof of stake and cut its energy use by more than 99%. It shipped with little disruption to users or apps.

“But make no mistake, this IS the third major iteration of Ethereum in the same way that the Merge was the second,” Vitalik Buterin articulated.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens 

Not Everyone Buys the TimelineThe schedule drew fast pushback, and not from outsiders. Dankrad Feist praised the vision but called three to four years far too slow. The Ethereum Foundation researcher’s data-scaling work gave danksharding its name.

“Fully proven STF and scaling to Gigagas with finality in seconds gets me excited! But 3-4 years is very slow… I think we should be ambitious and get it done in ~1 year. I think this is realistically possible now with LLMs,” Dankrad Feist suggested.

His faith in AI is not fringe. The strawmap itself assumes human-first development and concedes that AI-accelerated research could compress the timeline.

Others were more cautious. Some urged the Foundation to underpromise, drawing the reply that underpromising only leads to under-delivery.

2 years seems between possible and likely, but from a communication perspective I think it would be irresponsible for V/EF to communicate a 1-2 year expectation. Better to underpromise.

— Matt Liston (@no__________end) July 4, 2026 The stakes are practical. The overhaul arrives weeks after a leaner Ethereum Foundation cut about 20% of its staff, or 54 roles. It has also moved to a tighter, endowment-style budget.

The strawmap remains a draft, not a schedule. Buterin said the coming Hegotá fork is likely the last before the Lean era begins.

Ethereum Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoEther (ETH) has fallen about 41% in 2026 to near $1,760. For now, its market price reflects a market waiting on delivery, not promises.

According to HyperInsight’s monitoring, crypto personality "Big Brother Ma Ji" Huang Licheng has added to his ETH long positions. He currently holds a 25x leveraged long position of 9,390 ETH (valued at $16.56 million), with an average entry price of $1,721.04 and an unrealized profit of $400,000.

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According to GMGN monitoring, the BSC-based meme coin CZ (The Final Form Bull) briefly exceeded $80 million in market capitalization, hitting an all-time high, and is currently at $76 million, with a 24-hour surge of 380 times and trading volume of approximately $43.7 million over the same period. Earlier reports noted that crypto blogger @TCryptochicks released a series of "riddle" images, after which Binance founder CZ retweeted the post and replied: "Water (drop) your BNB wallet", reigniting market hype around celebrity-linked meme coins. BlockBeats Note: Meme coin trading is highly volatile, mostly dependent on market sentiment and conceptual hype, with no actual value or practical use cases. Investors should exercise caution and be mindful of the associated risks.

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The probability that the CLARITY Act will be signed into law in 2026 has risen to 52%.

According to Polymarket data, the probability that the CLARITY Act will be signed into law in 2026 has climbed to 52%, a 12-percentage-point increase from July 3. On the news front, the U.S. Major County Sheriffs' Association (MCSA) announced that after initially raising concerns about how the bill would affect illicit financial investigations, it no longer opposes the CLARITY Act. Analysts note that the MCSA’s shift in stance has eliminated a key barrier to the bill’s advancement, improving its feasibility of moving to a Senate vote. Still, opposition from the banking sector to stablecoin yield products and DeFi regulation remains a major source of uncertainty.

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South Korean chip stocks have extremely high leverage concentration, with the asset size of SK Hynix’s leveraged ETF exceeding four times its average daily trading volume.

The Kobeissi Letter stated in a post that leverage levels in South Korean chip stocks have spiraled out of control. Total assets of single-stock leveraged and inverse ETFs tracking SK Hynix currently stand at roughly $19 billion, more than four times the stock’s approximately $4.5 billion average daily trading volume (ADTV) this year. Meanwhile, leveraged ETFs linked to Samsung hold around $12.4 billion in assets, a 176% premium over its roughly $4.5 billion ADTV. The Hong Kong-listed 2x long SK Hynix ETF has about $13 billion in assets, roughly double SK Hynix’s average daily stock trading volume — the largest gap among major stocks tracked by leveraged ETFs. By comparison, leveraged ETFs tied to Micron Technology (MU) hold roughly $9.9 billion in assets, below its approximately $27.5 billion ADTV; leveraged ETFs for Tesla (TSLA) and NVIDIA (NVDA) have around $6 billion and $5.6 billion in assets respectively, also far lower than their respective ADTVs of roughly $23.6 billion and $28.8 billion. Leverage concentration in South Korean chip stocks has reached extremely high levels.

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Intel is considering adopting a double-sided power supply architecture for its 1.4nm process technology to catch up with TSMC and Samsung.

Intel is considering adopting a dual-side power supply architecture (utilizing both front and back sides) for its 1.4-nanometer ultra-fine process to catch up with competitors. Industry sources said Intel originally planned to use PowerDirect, a dedicated backside power supply technology, for its 1.4-nm base process 14A, but is now considering introducing a dual-side architecture that leverages both front and back sides in its subsequent 14A2 process. Intel previously announced plans to achieve 1.3x higher chip density on its 14A process compared to 18A; the 14A process targets an M0 pitch of around 28nm, while the 14A2 process could push the M0 pitch to 21nm via a half-node improvement. Intel will maintain a backside power network as its primary setup, while reallocating some front-side metal interconnects for auxiliary power and clock signals to compensate for insufficient power headroom caused by scaling and lithography limitations. Intel’s 14A process is scheduled to enter risk production in 2028 and mass production in 2029. The chipmaker needs to release the 0.9 version of its 14A process design kit (PDK) to external customers this October, and secure firm orders from large fabless clients within the following 18 months. By comparison, TSMC plans to ship its true 1.4nm A14 products in 2028, while Samsung Electronics aims to commercialize its SF2Z, a modified 2nm process utilizing backside power supply technology, in 2027.

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Maji adds to his Ethereum (ETH) long positions, bringing the total position value to $16.56 million, with current unrealized profit of $400,000.

According to HyperInsight’s monitoring, crypto personality "Big Brother Ma Ji" Huang Licheng has added to his ETH long positions. He currently holds a 25x leveraged long position of 9,390 ETH (valued at $16.56 million), with an average entry price of $1,721.04 and an unrealized profit of $400,000.

3 minutes ago

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Ethereum has extended its recovery over the past several sessions, breaking above its recent consolidation range and approaching a major confluence resistance area. The rally has improved short-term sentiment, but the market is now testing a zone that could determine whether this move develops into a broader trend reversal or remains a relief rally within the prevailing downtrend.

Ethereum Price Analysis: The Daily Chart Ethereum continues to recover from the $1.46K-$1.53K demand zone, where buyers once again stepped in after defending the June lows. The rebound has now carried price toward the descending trendline that has capped every major rally since the May peak.

The recent advance has also reclaimed the $1.70K area, placing ETH just below the next key resistance cluster around $1.82K-$1.86K. This region is particularly important because it aligns with the long-term descending trendline, creating a significant technical confluence.

Momentum has improved considerably. The previously discussed bullish RSI divergence has continued to play out, with the indicator making higher highs while price has recovered sharply from support. This suggests bearish momentum has weakened substantially compared to previous sell-offs.

Nevertheless, the broader trend cannot be considered bullish until Ethereum breaks above the descending trendline and reclaims the higher resistance band. A rejection from this area would preserve the sequence of lower highs that has defined the market for the past several months.

Source: TradingView ETH/USDT 4-Hour Chart The 4-hour chart shows that Ethereum has successfully broken above its short-term consolidation and reached the first resistance zone around $1.70K-$1.74K. Buyers have maintained strong momentum following the breakout from the lower range, allowing the price to approach the upper boundary of the descending structure.

Price is now trading just beneath the falling trendline that has repeatedly rejected previous recovery attempts. A decisive breakout above this trendline would represent the first meaningful structural improvement since the broader decline began and could open the door for a move toward the $1.82K-$1.86K resistance area.

As long as Ethereum remains above the recently reclaimed $1.70K region, buyers retain short-term control. However, failure to overcome the descending trendline could trigger another rejection, sending price back toward lower support levels and extending the broader corrective structure.

Source: TradingView Sentiment Analysis The one-month liquidation heatmap highlights a significant concentration of leveraged positions above the current market price, particularly within the $2K-$2.2K region.

These overhead liquidity clusters could act as a magnet for price in the coming sessions. If Ethereum successfully clears the descending trendline and continues its recovery, the market may accelerate toward this area as short liquidations fuel additional upside momentum.

However, the reaction after such a liquidity sweep may prove even more important than the rally itself. Once the $2K-$2.2K liquidity has been absorbed, the market will likely reveal whether buyers have accumulated enough strength to establish a sustainable bullish trend or whether the move was primarily a liquidity-driven squeeze.

If bullish momentum remains strong after clearing the overhead liquidity, Ethereum could enter a broader recovery phase. Conversely, failure to hold above that region would increase the probability of another significant decline, with price potentially rotating lower to target the sizeable liquidity clusters that remain beneath the current market. Such a sequence would fit the market’s tendency to move between major pools of leveraged liquidity before establishing its next directional trend.

Source: Coinglass Tags:

Ethereum has clawed its way back into the global top 100 assets by market capitalization, ranking somewhere between 93rd and 95th with a market cap of roughly $215 billion to $216 billion. The token is trading near $1,785 to $1,793 as of early July 2026, a meaningful recovery from a market cap that hovered around $192 billion to $197 billion just weeks ago in late June.

Ethereum now sits in the same neighborhood as SoftBank and Shell on the global asset leaderboard.

The climb back This isn’t Ethereum’s first time at this altitude. ETH originally broke into the top 100 global assets back in January 2021, when its market cap hit approximately $132 billion and it landed at rank 97.

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The latest re-entry was flagged in a June 19, 2026, report noting that both Bitcoin and Ethereum had rejoined the top 100 assets by market cap. Bitcoin, for its part, is comfortably sitting much higher on the list, around rank 15.

With roughly 120.68 million ETH tokens in circulation as of July 3 to 4, 2026, Ethereum remains firmly the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

What drove the recovery The jump from a market cap in the $192 billion to $197 billion range in late June to $215 billion to $216 billion in early July represents a roughly 10% increase in a matter of weeks.

No single protocol-level development appears to have triggered this particular rally. Instead, it looks like the broader crypto market experienced a general uplift that carried both Bitcoin and Ethereum higher.

What this means for investors Ethereum’s return to the top 100 is more than a vanity metric. It puts ETH back on the radar of institutional allocators who use asset rankings as a screening tool. Many large funds have internal mandates that restrict them to assets above certain market cap thresholds or within certain global rankings.

Ethereum still processes the lion’s share of decentralized finance activity and remains the default settlement layer for most serious DeFi protocols.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, rallied on Saturday amid renewed buying interest and strengthening technical signals. After a prolonged period of declines, Ethereum showed signs of recovery, sparking investor interest in whether it can surpass a key resistance level in July.

Price Approaches Critical ThresholdAt press time, ETH was trading at $1,786.41, marking a 3.19% gain over the previous 24 hours. Trading volume for the day reached $15.08 billion, and Ethereum’s total market capitalization was estimated at approximately $215.30 billion.

In an analysis released on July 4, 2026, More Crypto Online highlighted that Ethereum’s price was approaching its first major resistance level. According to the analyst, while market structure signals continued weakness in the medium to long term, there is potential for a notable second wave of price response within July.

More Crypto Online stated that Ethereum is nearing its first significant resistance zone. Despite lingering pressure in the mid to long term, the possibility of a strong rebound remains on the table for July.

This assessment suggests that, although Ethereum’s broader outlook remains under pressure, there is room for upward movement over the short term. Similar price behaviors have previously emerged in response to sharp selloffs, with buyers stepping in to fuel quick rebounds.

Technical Indicators Signal Strengthening MomentumOn the technical front, Bollinger Bands show that ETH has crossed above its middle band, which currently sits at $1,676.03. Meanwhile, the upper band stands at $1,836.77 and the lower band at $1,515.30. Holding above the middle band typically indicates growing buyer strength, although prices moving close to the upper band could trigger renewed selling pressure.

Mini glossary: Bollinger Bands are a technical indicator used to track volatility and possible support-resistance zones. The MACD measures the relationship between short- and medium-term momentum to generate trend change signals.

The MACD indicator also pointed toward a shift into positive territory. The MACD line rose to minus 32.27, with the signal line remaining at minus 60.80. Additionally, the histogram climbed to 28.52, reflecting strengthened upward momentum for ETH.

Potential for Acceleration if Resistance Is BrokenMaintaining its current trajectory, Ethereum could test new short-term highs in the days ahead. However, the next few trading sessions will be critical in determining whether the rally continues or ETH faces renewed selling pressure near the resistance zone.

If buyers manage to break above the resistance level with strong trading volume, the recovery could gather further support. Conversely, a failure to breach resistance may see ETH entering another period of consolidation. While current indicators suggest a strengthening short-term outlook, confirmation of a broader trend reversal will require Ethereum to sustain moves above these key resistance levels.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted a cumulative net outflow of roughly $527 million over the four trading days ending July 2, marking their eighth consecutive week of net outflows and setting the longest weekly outflow streak since the product category launched. While the sector recorded a single-day net inflow of $221.72 million on July 2, ending a prior streak of 10 consecutive trading days with total outflows of around $2.71 billion, the overall weekly outflow trend remained unreversed. Among the products, Fidelity’s FBTC saw a single-day net inflow of $165.96 million, while ARKB (from ARK and 21Shares) posted a net inflow of $91.84 million. In contrast, BlackRock’s IBIT logged a net outflow of $40.43 million that day, marking its 11th consecutive trading day of redemptions, with total outflows reaching roughly $2.2 billion. Separately, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded a weekly net outflow of $13.67 million for the week ending July 2, extending their streak of weekly net outflows to eight consecutive weeks and matching the all-time longest outflow streak. However, the sector has posted net inflows for two consecutive trading days, with BlackRock’s ETHA notching a $29.74 million net inflow on July 2. Meanwhile, U.S. Hyperliquid ETFs saw a weekly net inflow of $4.32 million, the lowest single-week inflow since their launch in mid-May, a sharp slowdown from the prior week’s record $111.36 million net inflow.

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Vitalik: Ethereum to enter 'Lean Ethereum' phase, core protocol may undergo full overhaul in the next 3–4 years

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a post stating that Ethereum researchers recently held a meeting in Berlin, continuing discussions with client teams initiated in Svalbard in April, to update the blockchain’s long-term protocol roadmap. Vitalik noted that "Lean Ethereum" is not a single upgrade, but a series of protocol evolutions to be rolled out gradually over the next 3 to 4 years—its impact is comparable to The Merge as Ethereum’s second major iteration, while the current phase may mark its third major evolution. He outlined core upcoming changes for Ethereum: replacing direct execution verification with recursive STARK proofs, integrating post-quantum cryptography, adjusting the consensus mechanism to a decoupled design of available chain and finality, and implementing multi-dimensional gas models alongside state structure restructuring. At the state level, Ethereum may form a "two-tier state structure" around 2030, consisting of ~2TB of traditional dynamic state and ~100TB of new scalable state to support scaling needs across different application scenarios. Vitalik emphasized that privacy capabilities will no longer be an add-on feature, but a core goal of protocol design. The system will also rely more on formal verification to boost security, and push the EVM toward higher-level abstractions, with the underlying layer potentially transitioning gradually to RISC-V or leanISA architectures. Key parameters including gas limits, blob sizes, and block times will be adjusted multiple times over the next few years, as Ethereum continues scaling via client optimizations and protocol upgrades. Vitalik concluded that Ethereum is entering a phase of continuous restructuring and scaling, aiming to complete underlying system upgrades without disrupting the existing application ecosystem.

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The U.S. CLARITY Act has made further progress, while the county sheriffs' organization has shifted to a neutral stance.

The Major County Sheriffs Association (MCSA) has shifted its stance on the CLARITY Act from opposition to neutrality. In a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Senator Elizabeth Warren, the organization noted that some of its concerns about Section 604 of the bill have been addressed. Previously, the MCSA had warned that the provision could undermine, to some extent, law enforcement capabilities targeting illegal financial activities related to crypto assets. Section 604 is tied to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, with its core focus on limiting liability for developers of decentralized protocols. Supporters argue that developers should not be held liable as intermediaries for user actions, while law enforcement agencies had earlier raised fears that the provision could create regulatory and enforcement "loopholes" that would hinder investigations into cases like money laundering, ransomware, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing. Despite the neutral stance, the MCSA still calls for including local law enforcement agencies in relevant research and coordination mechanisms in future revisions to boost digital asset crime investigation capabilities. Analysts say this change removes a key obstacle to the CLARITY Act’s progress, boosting its feasibility of advancing to a Senate vote. However, opposition from the banking sector to stablecoin yield products and DeFi regulation remains a major uncertainty.

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Perspective: The next phase of tokenization will be "customized investment portfolios", rather than just improving settlement efficiency.

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US national debt has hit $39 trillion, sparking long-term concerns, with analysts warning the risk of an unsustainable fiscal path is rising.

The size of U.S. national debt has risen to around $39 trillion, with public debt equivalent to the total U.S. GDP. Annual interest payments have reached roughly $1 trillion, exceeding the defense budget. The U.S. Treasury system traces its origins to the debt consolidation reform promoted by Alexander Hamilton in 1790, when the federal government assumed the war debts of individual states and promised full repayment, thereby establishing the U.S. credit system and laying the foundation for the global status of the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries. Today, U.S. Treasuries are regarded as one of the core assets of the global financial system, underpinning the reserve currency status of the U.S. dollar and widely held by central banks and financial institutions worldwide. However, as the debt scale continues to expand, market concerns about its long-term sustainability have intensified. According to calculations from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), when the debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds around 210%, the fiscal system may face unsustainability risks. Currently, the U.S. ratio stands at roughly 100%, and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office projects it could rise to 175% by 2056. Analysts note that in scenarios of rising healthcare spending and persistent fiscal deficits, this risk threshold could be reached earlier, and the long-term stability of the debt structure is facing more stringent market and policy tests.

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Iran’s new supreme leader remains unaccounted for, as Tehran continues to hold mourning events for Khamenei.

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Bitcoin broke through $63,000 this morning, erasing all losses from the end of June, with XRP leading gains among major cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin rose above $63,000 earlier today for the first time in two weeks, up roughly 3.6% from last week and nearly erasing losses from late June. The rally unfolded during thin trading volume for the U.S. Independence Day holiday, with low liquidity widely seen as amplifying short-term volatility. Among major cryptocurrencies, XRP gained 5.3% to reach $1.18, notching a nearly 10% weekly rise and lifting its market cap to around $73 billion, overtaking USDC to become the fifth-largest crypto asset. On-chain data shows XRP holders’ average losses have hit an extreme historical level, leading some traders to view this as a sentiment reversal signal. Ether (ETH) climbed 3.2% to approximately $1,793, with a weekly gain of ~11.5%; Dogecoin (DOGE) rose 2.6%; Solana (SOL) added around 13.2% week-over-week, extending the broader rebound trend. Analysts attribute the rally to Federal Reserve officials signaling easing inflation pressure, weaker non-farm payroll data, and short covering, with Bitcoin bouncing rapidly from below $60,000 to above $63,000. The market’s future trajectory will hinge on upcoming U.S. inflation data and the return of institutional liquidity after the holiday.

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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a post stating that Ethereum researchers recently held a meeting in Berlin, continuing discussions with client teams initiated in Svalbard in April, to update the blockchain’s long-term protocol roadmap. Vitalik noted that "Lean Ethereum" is not a single upgrade, but a series of protocol evolutions to be rolled out gradually over the next 3 to 4 years—its impact is comparable to The Merge as Ethereum’s second major iteration, while the current phase may mark its third major evolution. He outlined core upcoming changes for Ethereum: replacing direct execution verification with recursive STARK proofs, integrating post-quantum cryptography, adjusting the consensus mechanism to a decoupled design of available chain and finality, and implementing multi-dimensional gas models alongside state structure restructuring. At the state level, Ethereum may form a "two-tier state structure" around 2030, consisting of ~2TB of traditional dynamic state and ~100TB of new scalable state to support scaling needs across different application scenarios. Vitalik emphasized that privacy capabilities will no longer be an add-on feature, but a core goal of protocol design. The system will also rely more on formal verification to boost security, and push the EVM toward higher-level abstractions, with the underlying layer potentially transitioning gradually to RISC-V or leanISA architectures. Key parameters including gas limits, blob sizes, and block times will be adjusted multiple times over the next few years, as Ethereum continues scaling via client optimizations and protocol upgrades. Vitalik concluded that Ethereum is entering a phase of continuous restructuring and scaling, aiming to complete underlying system upgrades without disrupting the existing application ecosystem.

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The U.S. CLARITY Act has made further progress, while the county sheriffs' organization has shifted to a neutral stance.

The Major County Sheriffs Association (MCSA) has shifted its stance on the CLARITY Act from opposition to neutrality. In a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Senator Elizabeth Warren, the organization noted that some of its concerns about Section 604 of the bill have been addressed. Previously, the MCSA had warned that the provision could undermine, to some extent, law enforcement capabilities targeting illegal financial activities related to crypto assets. Section 604 is tied to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, with its core focus on limiting liability for developers of decentralized protocols. Supporters argue that developers should not be held liable as intermediaries for user actions, while law enforcement agencies had earlier raised fears that the provision could create regulatory and enforcement "loopholes" that would hinder investigations into cases like money laundering, ransomware, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing. Despite the neutral stance, the MCSA still calls for including local law enforcement agencies in relevant research and coordination mechanisms in future revisions to boost digital asset crime investigation capabilities. Analysts say this change removes a key obstacle to the CLARITY Act’s progress, boosting its feasibility of advancing to a Senate vote. However, opposition from the banking sector to stablecoin yield products and DeFi regulation remains a major uncertainty.

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Perspective: The next phase of tokenization will be "customized investment portfolios", rather than just improving settlement efficiency.

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US national debt has hit $39 trillion, sparking long-term concerns, with analysts warning the risk of an unsustainable fiscal path is rising.

The size of U.S. national debt has risen to around $39 trillion, with public debt equivalent to the total U.S. GDP. Annual interest payments have reached roughly $1 trillion, exceeding the defense budget. The U.S. Treasury system traces its origins to the debt consolidation reform promoted by Alexander Hamilton in 1790, when the federal government assumed the war debts of individual states and promised full repayment, thereby establishing the U.S. credit system and laying the foundation for the global status of the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries. Today, U.S. Treasuries are regarded as one of the core assets of the global financial system, underpinning the reserve currency status of the U.S. dollar and widely held by central banks and financial institutions worldwide. However, as the debt scale continues to expand, market concerns about its long-term sustainability have intensified. According to calculations from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), when the debt-to-GDP ratio exceeds around 210%, the fiscal system may face unsustainability risks. Currently, the U.S. ratio stands at roughly 100%, and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office projects it could rise to 175% by 2056. Analysts note that in scenarios of rising healthcare spending and persistent fiscal deficits, this risk threshold could be reached earlier, and the long-term stability of the debt structure is facing more stringent market and policy tests.

16 minutes ago

Iran’s new supreme leader remains unaccounted for, as Tehran continues to hold mourning events for Khamenei.

According to CNN, mourning events for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are ongoing in Tehran and multiple Iranian cities, drawing an estimated millions of participants, and will run through July 9. Meanwhile, the international community is uncertain about his successor. Reports indicate his son Mojtaba Khamenei has not made a public appearance, sparking concerns over the power transition and actual governance. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has also warned of security threats targeting the country in the coming days. On the regional front, abnormal shipping activity has been observed in the Strait of Hormuz, with multiple vessels turning back while attempting to transit, and the situation remains uncertain. Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have held a phone call and agreed to meet in the U.S. soon, with outside attention focused on further coordination between the two countries amid tensions with Iran.

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Bitcoin broke through $63,000 this morning, erasing all losses from the end of June, with XRP leading gains among major cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin rose above $63,000 earlier today for the first time in two weeks, up roughly 3.6% from last week and nearly erasing losses from late June. The rally unfolded during thin trading volume for the U.S. Independence Day holiday, with low liquidity widely seen as amplifying short-term volatility. Among major cryptocurrencies, XRP gained 5.3% to reach $1.18, notching a nearly 10% weekly rise and lifting its market cap to around $73 billion, overtaking USDC to become the fifth-largest crypto asset. On-chain data shows XRP holders’ average losses have hit an extreme historical level, leading some traders to view this as a sentiment reversal signal. Ether (ETH) climbed 3.2% to approximately $1,793, with a weekly gain of ~11.5%; Dogecoin (DOGE) rose 2.6%; Solana (SOL) added around 13.2% week-over-week, extending the broader rebound trend. Analysts attribute the rally to Federal Reserve officials signaling easing inflation pressure, weaker non-farm payroll data, and short covering, with Bitcoin bouncing rapidly from below $60,000 to above $63,000. The market’s future trajectory will hinge on upcoming U.S. inflation data and the return of institutional liquidity after the holiday.

16 minutes ago

BTSE has launched cryptocurrency trading platform BTSE Indonesia in Indonesia.

Blockchain trading and payments firm BTSE Group recently launched cryptocurrency trading platform BTSE Indonesia in Jakarta via a joint venture with PT Aset Kripto Internasional, and completed the rebranding of local licensed platform NVX. It is understood that BTSE will provide trading infrastructure and liquidity support, while the local Indonesian team will handle marketing, business partnerships, sales, and user growth. BTSE Indonesia stated that it has received approval from Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) to operate as a regulated digital financial asset trading platform. The license is also expected to support its future expansion into cryptocurrency futures and other businesses in compliance with local regulatory requirements. Official data shows that Indonesia’s cryptocurrency trading volume from January to November 2024 reached 556.5 trillion Indonesian rupiah (equivalent to approximately $31.2 billion), with registered cryptocurrency users hitting 22.11 million as of November 2024.

16 minutes ago

Sat 04 Jul 2026 ▪ 4 min read ▪ by Fenelon L.

Summarize this article with:

Solana has lost 68% of its validators in three years, dropping from around 2,500 to about 800 after a purge launched in 2025. Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of Sharplink and former BlackRock executive, contrasts this decline with Ethereum’s over 900,000 validators. This battle of figures reignites the debate on the true decentralization of major blockchains. Will institutional investors decide in favor of robustness over speed?

In brief Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of Sharplink and former BlackRock executive, states that Ethereum’s 900,000 validators outperform Solana’s 800. Electric Capital counts 1,012,824 developers who have contributed to Ethereum, including 232,000 active over the past twelve months. Sharplink held 886,725 ETH at the end of June 2026, one of the largest corporate ether reserves. Why does Chalom oppose Ethereum and Solana validators? Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of Sharplink and former Head of Digital Asset Strategy at BlackRock, challenges the persistent idea of a cultural problem at Ethereum, a criticism circulating for several months in the crypto community.

He also contrasts the network’s more than 900,000 active validators with the roughly 800 still counted on Solana, a gap he considers decisive for the future of smart contracts.

This confrontation comes as Solana has just reinforced its on-chain governance with the Solana Governance Proposals, a mechanism that redistributes voting power between validators and token holders. However, Chalom believes this effort does not compensate for the erosion in the number of validators.

Electric Capital indeed counts more than one million cumulative contributors to Ethereum’s code since its creation, including about 232,000 who remained active over the past twelve months. On Solana, however, 92% of applications still run on a single software client, a concentration Chalom considers risky for network resilience in the event of a major bug.

What are the stakes for decentralization after Solana’s validator purge? Solana had about 2,500 validators three years ago before introducing a pruning process in 2025 aimed at removing inactive or poorly performing nodes. This choice thus reduced their number to about 800, a purge its supporters describe as a qualitative improvement.

Chalom recalls that his years at BlackRock showed him the large institutions’ constant preference for network neutrality and resistance to capture by a single actor. Sharplink also illustrates this conviction through its ether treasury strategy, raised to 886,725 ETH at the end of June, and its financial support to Ethlabs, a research center founded by former Ethereum Foundation members.

Yet a historical figure of the Ethereum Foundation acknowledged that the network still lacks a clear value proposition to convince new investors. Meanwhile, the Solana team defends a lighter and faster network, better suited, according to them, for high-frequency trading and applications aimed at the general public.

This numbers duel illustrates two opposing visions of decentralization, between robustness of numbers and operational lightness. Three factors will influence what follows: institutional appetite for Ethereum ETFs, the trajectory of Solana validators after its purge, and the growing role of tokenization. The standards battle is just beginning.

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Fenelon L.

Passionné par le Bitcoin, j'aime explorer les méandres de la blockchain et des cryptos et je partage mes découvertes avec la communauté. Mon rêve est de vivre dans un monde où la vie privée et la liberté financière sont garanties pour tous, et je crois fermement que Bitcoin est l'outil qui peut rendre cela possible.

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Key Highlights Ethereum reached approximately $1,715 on July 3, posting gains exceeding 6% over a 24-hour period A seldom-seen monthly TD Sequential buy indication has emerged, previously appearing before significant price surges in 2022 and 2025 United States spot Ethereum ETFs registered $29.08 million in net positive flows on July 2, with BlackRock’s ETHA at the forefront Market observer Daan Crypto Trades identified $1,750 as a critical threshold, characterizing it as a crucial test for ETH’s ability to overcome its downward trajectory Binance ETH withdrawal activity reached a three-year peak, although positive exchange netflow continues to indicate potential selling pressure Ethereum successfully reclaimed the $1,700 mark on July 3, hovering around $1,715 following a robust rally that delivered over 6% gains within a single day. This upward movement returned ETH to a price point that market participants have been monitoring intently following several weeks of sustained downward pressure.

Ethereum (ETH) Price The resurgence coincided with renewed capital entering U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs. According to data from SoSoValue, these investment vehicles captured $29.08 million in aggregate net inflows on July 2. BlackRock’s ETHA product dominated the inflow activity with $29.74 million, whereas Grayscale’s ETHE experienced withdrawals totaling $2.75 million.

Market analyst Daan Crypto Trades shared his perspective on the price action through social channels. He observed that ETH had posted a 10% weekly gain and was challenging the February bottom around $1,750. He characterized this zone as an essential level for reclamation, stating it would “signal some strength.” He further explained that this identical area confirmed a structural breakdown in 2025, lending it historical significance. He acknowledged he held no firm conviction yet and was observing how price action unfolded around resistance at the session close.

$ETH Meanwhile pushing up 10% on the week and retesting that February low at ~$1750 again.

This is a key level to retake and would signal some strength to me. So the question now is whether this is just another lower high in this down trend or the start of something bigger. This… https://t.co/xVT7xRqAwV pic.twitter.com/20Fo4oBawE

— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) July 3, 2026

Ethereum simultaneously generated a monthly TD Sequential buy indication — an uncommon technical occurrence. Market analyst Ali Charts suggested the signal reflects exhaustion among sellers on an extended timeframe. Historical monthly buy signals preceded rallies of 235% in 2022 and 182% in 2025. While the indicator doesn’t validate a fresh bullish trend, it has captured attention among technical market participants.

ETHEREUM: BULLISH REVERSAL SIGNAL

The month of July has officially kicked off with a massive technical signal. The Tom DeMark (TD) Sequential indicator has just printed a buy signal on Ethereum’s monthly chart.

While a lot of volatility can play out within a newly opened… https://t.co/LNkygeYlUV pic.twitter.com/U8t1iKl3Th

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) July 2, 2026

Technical Assessment The MACD histogram registers positively at 19.33, with the MACD line crossing above its signal counterpart. Nevertheless, both indicators remain positioned below the zero threshold, indicating the trend hasn’t completely inverted. The RSI advanced to approximately 51.85, climbing above its moving average of 38.12 and surpassing the neutral 50 benchmark.

Ethereum bounced from a double-bottom formation near $1,565. Immediate resistance is positioned at $1,800, with $2,000 representing the next major obstacle. A concentration of liquidity around $1,740–$1,750 sits just above the current trading range, potentially acting as a magnet for short-term price action.

Market commentator Crypto Patel highlighted that ETH just completed its inaugural streak of three consecutive red quarters since inception — an unprecedented occurrence in Ethereum’s trading history.

For the First Time Since Launch, $ETH Just Recorded Its First-Ever Three Straight Red Quarters.

A Rare Chapter in Ethereum's Market History. pic.twitter.com/IprrGHofjE

— Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) July 4, 2026

On-Chain Metrics and Derivatives Analysis Open interest expanded 10.64% to reach $24.54 billion, while ETH trading volume increased 14.48% to $44.74 billion. Funding rates jumped 113.86%, demonstrating that leveraged long positions proliferated throughout the rally.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost documented that Binance ETH withdrawal transactions achieved their highest count in three years, exceeding 166,000 within a 24-hour window. Concurrently, analyst PelinayPA observed that Binance ETH exchange netflow remained positive at +12,938 ETH, indicating more ETH deposits than withdrawals from the platform.

Institutional participation persisted. BitMine maintains holdings exceeding 5.7 million ETH following an acquisition of 27,084 ETH. SharpLink secured an additional 10,000 ETH valued at $16.1 million during the recent price decline.

Ethereum surged above $1,700 on July 3, trading close to $1,715 after a rise of more than 6% in the past 24 hours. The move marked a notable recovery from recent downward pressure and brought the cryptocurrency back into the spotlight at a closely watched technical level.

Spot ETF inflows and a critical price thresholdAlongside Ethereum’s climb, US spot Ethereum ETFs saw a sharp uptick in inflows. Data from SoSoValue showed a total net inflow of $29.08 million into these ETFs on July 2. BlackRock’s ETHA fund accounted for the bulk of this movement with $29.74 million in net inflows, while Grayscale’s ETHE fund recorded $2.75 million in net outflows on the same day.

Market analyst Daan Crypto Trades noted that Ethereum jumped 10% on a weekly basis, retesting the $1,750 level that marked the February lows. According to the analyst, holding above this level signals a strengthening price structure and points to a key technical threshold for the asset.

Daan Crypto Trades highlighted that reclaiming the $1,750 zone could be seen as a sign of strength, though he indicated he would keep watching the price action around resistance as the close approached.

Rare technical indicator flashes buy signalA TD Sequential buy signal also appeared on Ethereum’s monthly chart, grabbing market attention due to its infrequency. Technical analyst Ali Charts commented that this signal, while rare, could mean sellers are becoming exhausted on longer time frames.

Mini glossary: The TD Sequential is a technical indicator developed by Tom DeMark, designed to identify points where a market trend may be weakening and potential reversal zones may emerge. It does not, however, confirm a trend reversal on its own.

Historical data shows that previous monthly TD Sequential buy signals have preceded rallies of 235% in 2022 and 182% in 2025. However, analysts caution that a single signal does not guarantee the start of a new uptrend.

Ali Charts emphasized that July began with a strong technical signal for Ethereum, with the market now closely monitoring the TD Sequential buy setup on the monthly chart.

Technical indicators and on-chain market flowsOn the technical side, Ethereum’s MACD histogram entered positive territory at 19.33, with the MACD line moving above the signal line. Despite these moves, both indicators remained below the zero line. The RSI climbed to approximately 51.85, rising above both its moving average and the neutral 50 threshold.

The price recovered from a double-bottom formation around $1,565. In the near term, the first resistance level for Ethereum lies at $1,800, followed by a significant barrier at $2,000. The liquidity concentration between $1,740 and $1,750 is also drawing attention for short-term price action.

In derivatives markets, open interest surged 10.64% to $24.54 billion. Trading volume rose 14.48% to $44.74 billion. Funding rates spiked 113.86%, suggesting a notable increase in leveraged long positions.

On-chain analyst Darkfost from CryptoQuant observed that ETH withdrawals from Binance hit their highest level in three years, exceeding 166,000 in just 24 hours. In contrast, PelinayPA noted that Binance’s net flow stood at a positive 12,938 ETH, meaning more ETH was deposited than withdrawn. On the institutional side, BitMine added 27,084 ETH to surpass a total holding of 5.7 million ETH, while SharpLink acquired 10,000 ETH valued at $16.1 million during the recent drop.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Ethereum is struggling to hold above its long-term ascending trendline, with market participants closely watching the weekly close for signs of direction. The technical setup shows the price caught between a strong support level and a down-sloping resistance area, tightening the range and highlighting the significance of the current zone.

Long-term structure approaches a critical thresholdOn the weekly chart, the dominant pattern for Ethereum is a broad triangle formation that has developed over several years. The lower trendline has historically provided support during sharp pullbacks, while the upper band has capped attempts at sustained rebounds, acting as a powerful resistance zone.

This makes the current position especially crucial from a technical perspective, as Ethereum once again tests the base of this long-standing structure. Maintaining buyer interest in this area is seen as pivotal to keeping the broader recovery scenario alive.

Ethereum is still holding onto its long-term trend, but a stronger buying reaction is needed for this support test to spark a real recovery.

On the upside, the next significant hurdle is the upper resistance, which lies around the $1,800–$2,000 range on the chart. A successful breakout above this zone would offer a much clearer technical signal that market control is returning to buyers.

$1,800 level stands out as a pivotal markerAnalyst Abundance emphasizes that Ethereum’s larger trend is not yet safely established, pointing out that it is crucial for weekly candles to close above $1,800. He warns that unless this threshold is reclaimed, the potential for a more pronounced downward move remains on the table.

Chart analysis shows Ethereum rebounded from support near the mid-$1,500s, but it is now approaching resistance between $1,771 and $1,794. As this area lies directly below the key $1,800 mark Abundance is monitoring, it takes on added importance for the trend’s next phase.

Abundance foresees that if Ethereum fails to secure weekly closes above $1,800, a retest of the $1,200 region may be on the horizon.

Should downward pressure intensify, immediate supports are identified at $1,631 and $1,583. Observers will be watching how the market reacts to these levels if price faces rejection from the current resistance zone.

LevelTechnical significance$1,771–$1,794Nearby resistance zone$1,800Critical threshold for weekly close$1,631First immediate support$1,583Lower support area$1,200Target range for deeper downturn scenarioWeak closes keep downside risk in focusThe analysis also highlights the importance of time cycles in the technical outlook. While Ethereum may be undergoing a short-term recovery, a decisive shift in the main trend direction has yet to be confirmed, according to recent signals.

A weekly close below the ascending support line would significantly weaken the current formation. If this breakdown occurs, it would mean Ethereum has lost one of its most important long-term support structures and could face an extended bottoming process before any sustainable rebound.

Overall, the battle at the lower boundary of Ethereum’s multi-year triangle pattern is likely to dictate the next major move. Market participants are advised to watch the $1,800 level closely in the coming weeks, as both bullish and bearish scenarios hinge on this decisive line in the sand.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Ethereum Name Service governance faces scrutiny over founder accountability

Germany’s savings and cooperative banks are rolling out crypto trading to retail clients, wiring Bitcoin (BTC) into the apps of institutions that hold roughly 80 million customer relationships in a country of 84 million people.

The Sparkassen serve about 50 million customers, per DSGV data, and the cooperative banks another 30 million, per BVR figures. Both groups dismissed the asset class as too risky just four years ago.

German Banks That Rejected Crypto Trading Now Court MillionsAccording to Bloomberg, both groups are building in-house services rather than steering clients to outside exchanges. DZ Bank’s meinKrypto platform already runs inside the VR Banking App, offering BTC, Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Cardano (ADA).

BaFin licensed meinKrypto under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework in late December 2025, per DZ Bank’s announcement. Boerse Stuttgart Digital handles custody, keeping the whole chain under German supervision.

DekaBank is building the equivalent product for the roughly 340 savings banks, with a phased launch later this year. Each of the almost 650 cooperative banks and every Sparkasse opts in individually. DZ Bank product specialist Markus Bärenfänger expects hundreds to join.

Germany’s Local Banks Bring Crypto Trading to Millions in Major Mainstream Adoption PushThe reversal is stark. The savings banks considered crypto trading in 2021, then shelved it over incalculable risks. MiCA has since opened the door for Germany’s largest financial institutions.

Trust Advantage Collides With Total Loss WarningsThe trust math explains the bet. Germans trust their primary bank twice as much as specialized crypto platforms, 38% to 19%, per a Boerse Stuttgart Digital survey. However, only about a quarter have invested in crypto, in line with broader European adoption figures.

That trust is precisely what worries critics. Co-Pierre Georg, professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, argues that traditional bank customers may not grasp the risks.

“It is concerning that the floodgates to the cryptocurrency market are now being opened by savings and cooperative banks,” Co-Pierre Georg, professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, via Bloomberg.

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Even the savings banks’ own lobby group, DSGV, calls crypto a highly speculative investment carrying the risk of total loss. It frames the service as suitable for self-directed investors only.

Timing sharpens the debate. Bitcoin trades near $62,483 after falling roughly 50% from its October 2025 record of $126,080.

Bitcoin Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoThe German lenders also join a wider European shift. UBS opened crypto trading for private clients in January.

For local banks, the payoff may be relevance rather than revenue. Westerwald Bank chief Ralf Kölbach warns that lenders skipping crypto lose younger, tech-savvy customers.

The bigger test is whether bank-branded credibility can survive the market’s next deep drawdown.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

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Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

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Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

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Donald Trump struck an optimistic tone on the U.S. economy, arguing that stronger economic growth could support both traditional financial markets like US Stock and risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.

His comments came as Bitcoin rose 1.99% to trade around $62,583, while Ethereum hovered near $1,751 and XRP traded close to $1.13 following a volatile second quarter.

The latest rally was largely driven by a macro-fueled short squeeze after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data eased investor concerns over additional interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Bitcoin is also reportedly showing a 76% correlation with gold, indicating that some investors increasingly view both assets as potential hedges against inflation amid shifting economic expectations.

Trump Says U.S. Economy Is StrengtheningTrump stated that the U.S. stock market had just completed its strongest quarter since his previous administration, pointing to gains in the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average.

"We are the strongest and most powerful country on Earth. And by the grace of God, the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history." – President DONALD J. TRUMP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/bGVSS80bJu

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 4, 2026 He argued that rising markets were helping boost Americans’ retirement savings through stronger 401(k) balances while his economic policies continued to support growth.

Trump credited several factors for the economic momentum, including:

Tax cuts aimed at increasing disposable income for working families.A narrowing U.S. trade deficit supported by rising exports.Trillions of dollars in announced investments contributing to factory construction, job creation, and manufacturing expansion.Calling it only the beginning, Trump said:

“The Trump economy is soaring. The Stock Market just completed its BEST QUARTER since the last time he was President. Stocks are surging, exports are rising, the trade deficit is shrinking, and trillions in investment are creating jobs. The Golden Age of America is just getting started.”

Stronger Growth and Lower Rates Could Benefit CryptoTrump also criticized the tendency of markets to react negatively to strong economic data due to inflation concerns.

He argued that stronger economic growth should be welcomed rather than feared and suggested that the Federal Reserve may have room to lower interest rates. Trump also praised former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh while indicating that some policymakers could make future rate cuts more difficult.

Historically, lower borrowing costs have been supportive of risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, making Trump’s comments particularly relevant for Bitcoin and the broader digital asset market.

Investors Continue Watching Policy DevelopmentsBeyond traditional markets, the Trump administration has become increasingly associated with a more crypto-friendly regulatory approach. Meanwhile, Congress continues to work on major digital asset legislation, including the CLARITY Act, as institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies expands.

The outlook for the second half of 2026 remains constructive for crypto markets if economic growth continues and investor confidence remains strong.

🚨 PRESIDENT TRUMP JUST DROPPED: "THE TRUMP ECONOMY IS SOARING! The Stock Market just completed its BEST QUARTER since the last time I was President."

"The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow are all SURGING, sending Americans’ 401(k)s higher and higher. My Working Families Tax Cuts mean… pic.twitter.com/GvklqaQs7Y

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 4, 2026 However, analysts caution that volatility could increase depending on future Federal Reserve decisions, tariff negotiations, and corporate earnings results, particularly from the artificial intelligence sector, which continues to influence broader market sentiment.

Story Ends Here

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Read the Next News

The Ethereum Foundation is making a more direct case to governments and institutions. A new guide from the foundation lays out how Ethereum and EVM-based infrastructure can be used as neutral digital rails for public-sector and institutional systems.

The timing is important. Tokenization, stablecoins, digital identity, and government-backed pilots are all moving from conference topics into actual implementation work. Ethereum wants to be part of that infrastructure conversation rather than just the chain associated with DeFi and NFTs.

For more details, visit the official Blog platform.

TL;DR The Ethereum Foundation published a guide aimed at government and institutional implementations.The guide focuses on Ethereum as open, neutral, and programmable infrastructure.The article strengthens Ethereum’s pitch for real-world public and institutional use cases. Ethereum’s Institutional Pitch Is Changing For years, Ethereum’s institutional story was mostly about DeFi liquidity, staking, and tokenization experiments. The new guide points to something broader: Ethereum as a base layer for systems that need transparency, interoperability, and censorship resistance.

That framing matters because governments and large institutions are unlikely to adopt public blockchain infrastructure simply because crypto traders like it. They need arguments around auditability, standards, neutrality, resilience, and long-term developer support.

Not Just Another Enterprise Blockchain Pitch The Ethereum Foundation’s advantage is that Ethereum already has a large developer base and a widely used execution environment. The challenge is that institutions still have concerns around privacy, compliance, fees, scalability, and operational risk.

A guide does not mean governments are about to migrate core systems overnight. But it does show the foundation trying to speak more clearly to decision-makers outside the crypto bubble. If tokenized assets and public-sector pilots continue to grow, Ethereum wants its open-source standards to be part of the default toolkit.

The Public Chain Argument The Foundation’s case rests on the idea that public infrastructure can be useful even for institutions that need controls. A government or bank may not want every internal process visible to the world, but it may still benefit from public standards, settlement assurances, and a large developer ecosystem.

That is where Ethereum’s modular roadmap becomes important. Institutions can use private or permissioned components while still anchoring certain functions to public infrastructure. The strongest use cases may not look like consumer DeFi at all.

The risk is that institutional adoption becomes a marketing phrase without deployments behind it. The guide gives Ethereum a clearer pitch, but the next proof will come from pilots that produce measurable usage.

For ETH holders, this kind of institutional messaging does not create instant demand. But it supports the longer-term argument that Ethereum’s value comes from being a settlement and coordination layer for many kinds of activity, not only speculative trading.

The cleaner takeaway is to treat this as a specific development inside Ethereum, not as a blanket prediction for the whole market. It gives readers a concrete data point to watch while keeping the limits of the story clear.

This article is based on information from the Ethereum Foundation.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.