In April 2023, Ethereum is at a critical turning point. Despite facing challenges from competing chains like Solana (3.25 million daily active users vs. Ethereum's 410,000), two major technological upgrades may reshape its future:

1. **Pectra Upgrade** (launching May 7) — Enhances scalability, reduces gas fees, and optimizes staking mechanisms.

2. **RISC-V Proposal** — If it replaces the EVM, it could improve execution efficiency by 100 times and enhance zero-knowledge proof compatibility.

In the short term, market sentiment is affected by the ETH/BTC exchange rate falling to a 5-year low (0.02), but in the long term, it still relies on ecosystem innovation and institutional adoption.