Ethereum price today: $3,420
- Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade is set to roll out in March 2025, a year after the Dencun upgrade went live.
- Pectra features new upgrades, which include improving the wallet experience, boosting security and increasing the maximum staking limit.
- Ethereum risks facing rejection near a key trendline resistance amid its developing inverted Head-and-Shoulders pattern.
Ethereum (ETH) traded above $3,400 on Friday following core developers' decision to roll out the Pectra upgrade in March. Meanwhile, ETH is looking to overcome the resistance near a key descending trendline that extends from mid-December.
Ethereum to undergo Pectra upgrade in March
Ethereum developers have scheduled the upcoming Pectra upgrade to launch in March 2025 upon the successful upgrades in test networks or testnets.
At a call on Thursday, core developers agreed to ship the new upgrades on Ethereum's Sepolia and Holesky testnets. If the updates go well without any hiccups, developers will extend Pectra to the manner in March — just one year apart from the Dencun upgrade.
The Pectra upgrade features several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), including EIP-7702, which will kick-start "account abstraction" to improve the user experience in wallets by allowing batch transactions and one-time gas fees, account recovery options, and sponsored transactions.
Another key upgrade is EIP-2537, which aims to tweak how zero-knowledge cryptography works on Ethereum to unlock improved privacy, security and scalability.
Validators also look forward to EIP-7002 and EIP-7251, which will allow flexible staking withdrawals and increase the maximum staking balance from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, with the former as the minimum. This will reduce the validator set size and improve the network health.
Pectra was initially set to introduce about 20 EIPs to the Ethereum network, but core developers decided to split the upgrade in September to reduce the potential risks of shipping all at once. The second phase, code-named Fusaka, will be next in line after Pectra goes live.
If developers successfully complete the Pectra upgrade, it could attract new users into the Ethereum ecosystem and, in turn, increase ETH's demand.
Read the Galaxy Digital report to learn more about Ethereum's upcoming upgrades.
Meanwhile, Ethereum ETFs posted net inflows of $166.6 million on Thursday, per Coinglass data.
Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH faces key trendline resistance amid developing inverted H&S pattern
Ethereum is up 2%, sparking over $33 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours. The total amount of long and short liquidations is $17.43 million and $16 million.
ETH is attempting to form the right shoulder of an inverted Head-and-Shoulders pattern that has been developing since early 2024.
ETH/USDT weekly chart
On the upside, ETH risks seeing a rejection near the resistance of a descending trendline that extends from December. A breakout above the descending trendline resistance could send ETH toward the resistance level near $4,093, which has held for nearly ten months. The top altcoin has consistently seen increased selling pressure whenever it attempts to cross this level.
If Ethereum pulls a sustained high volume breakout above the $4,093 resistance and holds it as a support level, ETH could rally toward $6,000. However, ETH's all-time high price of $4,868 could stand as a critical resistance to prevent such a move.
On the downside, ETH must maintain the support level near $2,817, as a move below will invalidate the bullish thesis.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) are above their neutral levels, indicating dominant bullish momentum.
Ethereum FAQs
Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain with smart contracts functionality. Its native currency Ether (ETH), is the second-largest cryptocurrency and number one altcoin by market capitalization. The Ethereum network is tailored for building crypto solutions like decentralized finance (DeFi), GameFi, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), etc.
Ethereum is a public decentralized blockchain technology, where developers can build and deploy applications that function without the need for a central authority. To make this easier, the network leverages the Solidity programming language and Ethereum virtual machine which helps developers create and launch applications with smart contract functionality.
Smart contracts are publicly verifiable codes that automates agreements between two or more parties. Basically, these codes self-execute encoded actions when predetermined conditions are met.
Staking is a process of earning yield on your idle crypto assets by locking them in a crypto protocol for a specified duration as a means of contributing to its security. Ethereum transitioned from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism on September 15, 2022, in an event christened “The Merge.” The Merge was a key part of Ethereum's roadmap to achieve high-level scalability, decentralization and security while remaining sustainable. Unlike PoW, which requires the use of expensive hardware, PoS reduces the barrier of entry for validators by leveraging the use of crypto tokens as the core foundation of its consensus process.
Gas is the unit for measuring transaction fees that users pay for conducting transactions on Ethereum. During periods of network congestion, gas can be extremely high, causing validators to prioritize transactions based on their fees.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers. The author will not be held responsible for information that is found at the end of links posted on this page.
If not otherwise explicitly mentioned in the body of the article, at the time of writing, the author has no position in any stock mentioned in this article and no business relationship with any company mentioned. The author has not received compensation for writing this article, other than from FXStreet.
FXStreet and the author do not provide personalized recommendations. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of this information. FXStreet and the author will not be liable for any errors, omissions or any losses, injuries or damages arising from this information and its display or use. Errors and omissions excepted.
The author and FXStreet are not registered investment advisors and nothing in this article is intended to be investment advice.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
Top 3 gainers Supra, Cosmos Hub, EOS: Supra leads recovery after Trump’s tariffs announcement
Supra’s 25% surge on Friday calls attention to lesser-known cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP struggle. Cosmos Hub remains range-bound while bulls focus on a potential inverse head-and-shoulders pattern breakout.
Bitcoin Weekly Forecast: Tariff ‘Liberation Day’ sparks liquidation in crypto market
Bitcoin price remains under selling pressure around $82,000 on Friday after failing to close above key resistance earlier this week. Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday swept $200 billion from total crypto market capitalization and triggered a wave of liquidations.
Can Maker break $1,450 hurdle as whales launch buying spree?
Maker is back above $1,300 on Friday after extending its lower leg to $1,231 the previous day. MKR’s rebound has erased the drawdown that followed United States President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberaton Day’ tariffs on Wednesday, which targeted 100 countries.
Gold shines in Q1 while Bitcoin stumbles
Gold gains nearly 20%, reaching a peak of $3,167, while Bitcoin nosedives nearly 12%, reaching a low of $76,606, in Q1 2025. In Q1, the World Gold ETF's net inflows totalled 155 tonnes, while the Bitcoin spot ETF showed a net inflow of near $1 billion.
Bitcoin Weekly Forecast: Tariff ‘Liberation Day’ sparks liquidation in crypto market
Bitcoin (BTC) price remains under selling pressure and trades near $84,000 when writing on Friday after a rejection from a key resistance level earlier this week.
The Best brokers to trade EUR/USD
SPONSORED Discover the top brokers for trading EUR/USD in 2025. Our list features brokers with competitive spreads, fast execution, and powerful platforms. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, find the right partner to navigate the dynamic Forex market.