Ethereum price had a mixed performance in 2025. After plunging to $1,373 in April, the token jumped to a record high of $4,950 in August. It then dropped by double digits to $2,950 at present, as the crypto market crashed and ETH ETF outflows increased.
Ethereum Price to React to Glamsterdam and Hegota Hard Forks
ETH price reacted to two main upgrades this year: Pectra and Fusaka. Pectra, the biggest upgrade after the Merge, increased validator maximum effective balances, account abstraction, and increased blob capacity.
The Fusaka upgrade, which happened recently, was focused on scaling and efficiency. Its headline features were peer-to-peer data availability sampling (PeerDAS) and gas limits.
Looking ahead, the network will have two major upgrades in 2026: Glamsterdam and Hegota. Glamsterdam, which will be activated in the first quarter, will introduce numerous features.
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It will introduce parallel processing, increase gas limits from 60 million to 200 million, and move 10% of validators to zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. This upgrade will boost its transactions per second (TPS) to over 10,000.
Meanwhile, Ethereum will introduce the Hegota hard fork in the second half of the year. It will introduce Verkle trees, state and history expiry, and increase gas flow from 20 to 60 megagas per second.
These upgrades will help Ethereum continue to grow its market share in key industries like decentralized finance (DeFi) and Real-World Assets (RWAs).
RWA Growth to Supercharge ETH
The other main catalyst for the ETH price in 2026 will be the real-world asset industry. Data compiled by RWA.xyz shows the network has over $12 billion in assets, notable given the industry has over $19 billion.
Most recently, the network benefited from JPMorgan’s entry, which launched its first on-chain fund. Other companies, such as Janus Henderson and Apollo Global Management, have all launched funds on the network.
At the same time, the Ethereum price will benefit from the ongoing growth of the stablecoin industry. Data shows that Ethereum’s network has over $180 billion in stablecoin supply, giving it a dominance of over 60%.
Ethereum Price Technical Analysis
In our recent ETH price analysis, we noted that the coin may drop sharply in the coming days. This view still remains. However, the three-day chart points to an eventual rebound in the coming year.
The most important catalyst for the token is the formation of an inverted head-and-shoulders pattern. Its head is at $1,373, and the right shoulder is at $2,100. This means that the token may initially drop to that level to complete the formation of the right shoulder.
Therefore, the Ethereum price will likely drop and then bounce back later next year. This means that it may jump to the all-time high of $4,950. A move above that level will lead to more gains, potentially to $6,000.
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