Ethereum’s ether (ETH) led the market in early Asia hours as traders reacted favorably to the protocol’s recent Pectra upgrade, sending the token up nearly 20%. This marks the most significant gain since 2021, with ETH trading above $2,100, according to market data from CoinDesk.
The surge comes amid a broader crypto market rally, coinciding with Bitcoin (BTC) soaring past $100,000 for the first time in three months, which has sparked renewed interest across the digital asset space.
Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade is its most substantial overhaul since the 2022 Merge, representing a sweeping protocol hard fork, as previously reported by CoinDesk. This upgrade consolidates validator operations by raising the staking limit from 32 to 2,048 ETH (via EIP-7251), enhances wallet usability with account abstraction mechanisms that allow temporary smart contract functionality (via EIP-7702), and implements nine other Ethereum Improvement Proposals.
Ming Jung from Presto Research remarked to CoinDesk, “ETH is finally catching up after lagging behind BTC for most of the year. While BTC is nearing its all-time high, ETH is still down nearly 50% from its 2024 peak.” He further noted that the Pectra upgrade has helped restore some confidence in the market. With ETH/BTC presently down nearly 40% year-to-date at 0.02, it is not surprising to see buyers stepping in at these levels.
In a recent research report, CryptoQuant highlighted that weak network activity on the Ethereum blockchain, which hasn’t shown growth since 2021, suggests that a recovery to previous highs may not be imminent despite the current rally.
Flowdesk also provided an optimistic market update, stating that they see the crypto market broadly regaining momentum. With Bitcoin now above $100K, there appears to be a shift in investor sentiment from caution to chasing higher-yield altcoins and structured products. The report noted, “We’re seeing a recycling of sell flow into higher-momentum plays, a shift from the caution that’s defined the last two months. While still below Q4 2024 levels, beta appetite is clearly building.”
March Zheng, General Partner of Bizantine Capital, emphasized that Ethereum typically serves as the main on-chain altcoin indicator for risk appetite, and its significant upticks generally lead to broader altcoin rallies.
In the realm of Bitcoin, BTC is trading above $102.5K, continuing to benefit from positive ETF inflows. Notably, Standard Chartered has stated that their second-quarter target of $120,000 may be “too conservative,” while other market observers consider current upside targets to be “too low.”
Meanwhile, the CoinDesk 20, measuring the performance of the largest digital assets, has also seen an increase of over 10%.
Read more: Breakout Alert: Ether, Bitcoin Cash-Bitcoin Ratio Break Downtrends as DOGE, SHIB Bottom Out
