Ethereum rose nearly 40% last week, jumping from $1,800 to $2,500. However, the DeFi market for Ethereum has significantly declined, with its total locked value down more than 88% from its peak. Meanwhile, Solana is leading in active users and transaction volume due to its faster speeds and lower costs.

High gas fees have deterred many users, prompting DeFi and NFTs to shift to cheaper and faster blockchains. Nevertheless, it remains the most secure, trustworthy, and mature blockchain. Ethereum is continuously improving quietly through new features like account abstraction and re-staking, enabling developers to use Ethereum more easily and efficiently.

Although it won’t skyrocket to its historical high quickly, its utility is constantly being enhanced through innovation. Features such as staking and EIP-1559 help reduce supply, but the demand from new users is the key to price increases.

Despite a recent decline, according to DefiLama data, Ethereum still dominates in total locked value (TVL), reaching $60.95 billion, with stablecoin supply at $124 billion. The developer community of Ethereum remains the largest and continues to lead in the decentralized blockchain space. However, Solana leads in active address count and 24-hour DEX transaction volume, reaching $4.2 billion.

The Ethereum Foundation has recently taken steps to improve its culture and strengthen interactions with developers, which may help regain lost confidence in Ethereum's future, but price increases require genuine demand—people buying and holding ETH, not just using applications built on it. Ethereum needs to find a balance between scalability, decentralization, and value capture to remain competitive.