$ETH Ethereum (ETH) serves as the leader in smart contracts, maintaining competitive advantages thanks to its large developer ecosystem and DeFi/NFT infrastructure. However, performance issues such as high Gas fees and low TPS still need to be addressed, with Layer 2 solutions (like Arbitrum and Optimism) and the upcoming Proto-Danksharding upgrades being key. Regulatory risks (whether the SEC classifies it as a security) and competition (such as Solana) pose challenges. In the long term, if it successfully achieves modular scalability and maintains ecosystem innovation, ETH may continue to lead the public chain space, but attention must be paid to market cycles and institutional capital flows.