$ETH

Ethereum has been struggling quite a bit in this recent market, with the price stuck at the $3400 mark, unable to break through, as if under a spell. On-chain data has revealed a fatal flaw—although Gas fees have dropped below $1, the number of daily active addresses has decreased by 18% compared to last month. This 'deflationary paradox' has veteran DEFI players shaking their heads. Ironically, while everyone is discussing the expected approval of ETFs, Vitalik's quietly submitted EIP-7732 proposal may actually be the real game-changing move.

Institutional operations are becoming increasingly divided; Grayscale's ETHE fund is still bleeding from daily reductions, while a certain European sovereign fund has been reported to be aggressively buying in the OTC market. Even more cleverly, platforms like Lido, which offer liquid staking, are becoming invisible market makers, controlling 32% of staked ETH, yet they have set 'soft limits' on withdrawal requests. This centralization risk was even used by the SEC chairman as a reason to reject the ETF in the latest hearing.

The derivatives market is turbulent; while everyone is focused on spot prices, the premium on ETH quarterly futures has suddenly shrunk to 0.3%, marking the lowest level since the merger. Reports suggest that several market makers are quietly setting up 'spot-futures' arbitrage strategies, waiting to harvest volatility after the ETF approval results are announced. Do you think this time it can truly break the $4000 spell, or will it be another round of 'buy the expectation, sell the fact' tactics?