Ethereum (ETH) has struggled to recover after dropping below $2,600 on Feb. 24, facing strong resistance amid weak network activity, rising competition, and declining institutional demand. To regain bullish momentum, four critical factors must be addressed.
1. Network Upgrades & Layer-2 Interoperability
While the upcoming Pectra upgrade aims to enhance Ethereum’s efficiency, it lacks immediate solutions for high base-layer transaction fees and cross-chain liquidity issues.
Key Concern: Layer-2 fragmentation hinders seamless transactions across networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base.
Competitive Pressure: Berachain and Hyperliquid have gained traction, with over $3B and $2.8B in TVL, respectively, threatening Ethereum’s dominance in DeFi and perpetual futures markets.
What Needs to Happen?
Faster and more scalable L2 solutions with unified liquidity to improve Ethereum’s usability.
Seamless integration of DeFi projects across multiple networks.
2. Increasing Institutional Demand
Ethereum spot ETFs have seen nine out of ten days of net outflows, totaling $406M in withdrawals.
The lack of staking incentives for ETF investors makes ETH less attractive compared to 4.5% stablecoin yields in DeFi.
The SEC’s potential approval of a Solana (SOL) ETF in 2025 could shift investor focus away from ETH.
What Needs to Happen?
Spot ETH ETFs must integrate native staking to attract institutional capital.
Ethereum must demonstrate stronger real-world utility to stand out against competitors.
3. Declining Supply & Fee Burn Mechanism
Ethereum’s supply is increasing at a rate of 0.7% per year, due to reduced network activity and lower gas fees, weakening ETH’s deflationary model.
The EIP-1559 burn mechanism has not been effective in reducing ETH’s circulating supply.
The staking reward yield has dropped below 2.5%, making Ethereum less attractive to investors.
What Needs to Happen?
A surge in network usage to revive fee burns and reinforce Ethereum’s deflationary status.
Higher staking yields to improve ETH’s appeal over stablecoin lending options.
4. Restoring DeFi & On-Chain Activity
Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem has struggled to maintain TVL growth, with user activity shifting to alternative blockchains like Solana and Berachain.
The memecoin boom on Solana highlighted Ethereum’s scalability limitations.
Total DeFi TVL dropped by $45B, erasing gains since Trump’s election.
What Needs to Happen?
New use cases and innovative dApps must emerge to drive user adoption back to Ethereum.
Improvements in gas efficiency are needed to make Ethereum competitive with faster L1s like Solana.
Final Thoughts: Can Ethereum Regain $2,600?
Ethereum’s recovery depends on:
- Scalable network upgrades & seamless L2 interoperability
- Institutional capital inflows through ETF staking incentives
- Higher on-chain activity to reduce ETH supply & increase fees burned
- Stronger demand for DeFi, gaming, and tokenization applications
Without addressing these structural issues, ETH could continue to underperform, losing market share to faster, lower-cost blockchain competitors, according to Cointelegraph.
