Ethereum Pectra upgrade adds new features. When will ETH re-establish $2,000?

Author: Marcel Pechman , Cointelegraph

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

Ethereum successfully implemented a key network upgrade on May 7, but the price of ETH and its derivatives metrics responded to the upgrade in a dull manner. The cold reaction surprised traders and triggered analysts to question whether ETH still has a chance to rise 22% to re-establish the $2,200 level.

 _ETH 30-_ _day futures annualized premium. Source:_ _Laevitas.ch_

The ETH futures premium has been below the neutral threshold of 5%, indicating a lack of interest from leveraged longs. More importantly, this indicator remains unchanged at 3% after the Pectra upgrade, indicating that traders have not adjusted their positions despite the successful deployment of the upgrade.

The market response was indifferent in part because investors focused on macroeconomic issues, as uncertainty in global trade disputes exacerbated the risk of recession. But traders lack interest in Ethereum, which predates the recent deterioration of risk aversion sentiment. In fact, in the first three months of 2025, ETH lagged behind the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization by 28%.

This bland response can be attributed to investors' concerns about macroeconomic issues to some extent, as the risk of recession is increasing amid uncertainty of global trade disputes. However, traders lack interest in ETH predates the recent intensification of risk aversion. In fact, in the first three months of 2025, ETH performed 28% lower than the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization.

Pectra's price performance after the upgrade reflects general dissatisfaction in the market, because other blockchains have shown certain development momentum.

 Comparison of _Solana \'s_ _monthly active address with_ its _L1_ _competitors. Source:_ _Token Terminal_

Historically, high Ethereum base layer fees may have limited network activity, but since mid-February, these fees have dropped below $1. In addition, Ethereum's leading L2 solution Base currently has 10.3 million monthly active users, far less than Solana's 82.2 million and BNB Chain's 25.9 million.

Ethereum lags behind in DApp interoperability – will this affect the price of ETH?

Solana takes the lead in the DEX space by providing an integrated user experience, especially in token issuance. Similarly, Hyperliquid's performance in perpetual contract trading exceeded expectations, indicating that traders' main focus is not necessarily on the decentralization and security of Ethereum. Meanwhile, Tron has made significant progress in the stablecoin market.

 _Blockchain and_ _DApps 30_ _-day fee (USD). Source:_ _DefiLlama_

Ethereum still leads the total lock-up value (TVL). However, this does not bring much benefit to ETH holders. According to DefiLlama data, the Ethereum network has been relatively low in the past 30 days, at just $19 million. By comparison, Tron's cumulative expenses were $51.8 million for the same period, while Solana's cumulative expenses were $39.4 million.

 _Source:_ [_X/ProbablyNoam_](https://x.com/ProbablyNoam/status/1920173878447374693)

Noam Hurwitz, director of engineering at Alchemy, noted that Ethereum's blob fees have been reduced to a minimum since the Pectra upgrade. For Hurwitz, ETH's success depends on the scalability of the underlying layer, including further improvements in the Rollup mechanism and ultimately a more seamless user experience.

Interoperability of assets and data in the Ethereum L2 ecosystem has long been a difficult problem, and users on Solana and BNB chains can easily switch between multiple decentralized applications (DApps). Although the Pectra upgrade has taken a step in the right direction, the issue has not been addressed, which explains why ETH has not been able to return to the $2,200 level in early March.

To get ETH price to rise 22% from the current $1,810, investors may need to ensure that the progress of the network, whether through deposits or L2 growth, can be translated into significant gains. Ultimately, higher staking yields or stronger incentives are needed to drive wider adoption of DApps, which in turn will increase the demand for ETH within the ecosystem.

Related Reading: Dialogue with the Ethereum Foundation: After Pectra upgrade, we will explain the three core strategies in the future