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ETH Drops 60% from 2025 High, Yet TradFi Bets on ETH: Here’s Why

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Crypto Breaking News

Ethereum remains a focal point for institutional on-chain activity even as price momentum stalls. In 2026, Ether has retreated about 36% for the year, slipping back from the $3,000 milestone toward the $1,900 zone as traders weigh macro headwinds and network dynamics. Yet major financial institutions are pressing ahead with on-chain experiments—spanning tokenized funds, custody solutions, and Layer-2 rollups—underlining a shift in capital toward Ethereum and its expanding ecosystem. On-chain metrics reinforce the narrative: the Ethereum ecosystem, including its Layer-2 solutions, commands a substantial share of total value locked (TVL), while on-chain activity and revenues have cooled from late-2025 peaks. Against this backdrop, Vitalik Buterin has signaled a pivot toward strengthening base-layer scalability and privacy-preserving technologies that could recalibrate the network’s long-run efficiency and security.

Key takeaways

  • Structural dominance of Ethereum and its Layer-2s: Ethereum and associated rollups hold about 65% of TVL, underscoring institutional preference for the chain and its scaling stack.
  • Price action versus on-chain momentum: Ether is down roughly 36% in 2026, despite ongoing development focused on scalability, privacy, and quantum resistance.
  • Activity compression on Ethereum: DEX volumes on the network fell 55% over six months, a sharper pullback than Solana’s 21% decline, signaling a broader slowdown in activity and fee generation.
  • Market leadership in liquidity and asset classes: Even with near-term headwinds, Ethereum commands a dominant 57% TVL on-chain, rising to 65% when Layer-2s are included, and maintains a substantial share of Real World Assets (RWA) activity.
  • Roadmap and security priorities: The ecosystem’s leadership reiterates a staged approach to base-layer improvements, including parallel block verification, gas-time alignment, and a zero-knowledge EVM, with quantum-resistance considerations on the horizon.

Tickers mentioned: $ETH, $SOL

Sentiment: Neutral

Price impact: Negative. Ether’s 2026 decline and softer on-chain activity have pressured asset pricing and network revenue incentives.

Trading idea (Not Financial Advice): Hold. The combination of a robust institutional footprint and a clear, if gradual, roadmap for scalability suggests potential upside if macro conditions improve and on-chain activity stabilizes.

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Market context: The Ethereum ecosystem remains a central hub within a broader cycle of liquidity rebalancing, regulatory attention, and shifting risk appetites that influence DeFi flows and cross-chain competition. In this environment, Ethereum’s lead in TVL and DeFi activity—supported by Layer-2 rollups—helps anchor a risk framework that many institutions rely on for on-chain experimentation and asset tokenization.

Why it matters

The sustained institutional engagement with Ethereum signals a broader belief that the network’s core advantages—decentralization, compatibility with a wide array of DeFi protocols, and a proven track record—deliver durable value creation even as price volatility tests investor patience. The data underpinning this case is compelling: Ethereum plus its Layer-2 ecosystem account for a sizable portion of TVL, and even amid a retreat in on-chain volumes, the share remains disproportionately higher than rival chains when L2s are counted. This creates a margin of safety for long-horizon participants who prioritize on-chain liquidity, institutional-grade tooling, and the ability to navigate Real World Asset use cases on-chain.

From a development perspective, the village of researchers and builders around Ethereum has kept pace with a rapidly evolving set of priorities. Vitalik Buterin’s public statements point to a deliberate shift toward strengthening the base layer’s scalability and privacy properties, while preserving the composability that DeFi and tokenized asset markets rely on. The proposed approach includes parallel block verification and real-time gas-cost alignment with actual execution time, paired with the emergence of a zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (ZK-EVM). These steps are not only technical milestones; they are foundational bets on how the network sustains security, throughput, and cost efficiency as demand scales. The gradual rollout—starting with a minority of nodes participating before introducing more systemic changes—reflects a measured approach to system-wide upgrades, a stance that has historically helped Ethereum weather upgrade friction and security concerns.

Institutional activity on Ethereum is not merely cosmetic. Large financial players—including names commonly associated with mainstream finance—have launched on-chain initiatives that leverage the Ethereum ecosystem for tokenized funds, stablecoins, and Layer-2 rollups. While critics have highlighted the limits of rollups versus competing blockchains, the real-world economics remain anchored to Ethereum’s first-mover advantage, broad ecosystem support, and established on-chain settlement guarantees. The network’s role in DeFi is underscored by its continued dominance in TVL and the notable share of Real World Assets on-chain. Despite the allure of faster or cheaper blockchains, no clear “Ethereum killer” has emerged capable of matching its breadth of activity and capital efficiency, a gap that keeps Ethereum at the center of many institutional agendas.

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On the user-facing side, on-chain fees and DApp revenue have cooled as activity contracted. February 2026 data show Ethereum’s DEX volumes at $56.5 billion, down from an August 2025 peak of $128.5 billion. Meanwhile, Solana’s on-chain activity has fared somewhat better in relative terms, with monthly volumes around $95.5 billion in February, down from $120.6 billion in August. This divergence helps explain why the market remains skeptical about near-term profitability for general-purpose networks, even as the long-run narrative for scalable, privacy-preserving on-chain infrastructure remains intact. For readers following the data, the contrast between Ethereum’s on-chain momentum and its price action is a reminder that fundamental progress does not always translate into immediate price appreciation.

From a strategic perspective, the push toward base-layer scalability—while still embracing rollups—reflects a nuanced consensus about trade-offs between decentralization, security, and efficiency. Buterin’s own remarks acknowledge that quantum-resistant signatures are larger and costlier to verify, a reality that has pushed the team toward fixing protocol-layer recursive signatures and proof aggregation, along with vectorized math precompiles to reduce gas costs. Even with these challenges, the roadmap signals a path toward sustained scalability and resilience in a post-quantum security era, a consideration that matters for institutional investors seeking durability beyond the current market cycle.

Taken together, the evidence suggests that Ethereum’s long-term narrative remains intact even as near-term price action tests the nerves of investors. The combination of a sizable TVL share, an active pipeline of base-layer and L2 innovations, and ongoing institutional experimentation points to a ecosystem that is not merely surviving a period of cooling activity but actively retooling for a more scalable future. The market’s reaction to this mix will likely hinge on the pace of rollup cost reductions, the successful deployment of ZK-EVM features, and the ability of on-chain markets to re-accelerate user and developer activity without compromising security or decentralization.

Related readings on this topic illuminate how institutions weigh Ethereum’s advantages against faster but less proven competitors. For reference, see analyses discussing why institutions still prefer Ethereum despite faster blockchains, and the ongoing work on quantum-resistant and privacy-preserving enhancements in the network’s roadmap. These sources provide context for how market participants view Ethereum’s role in a diversified on-chain ecosystem.

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ETH/USD (orange) vs total crypto capitalization (blue). Source: TradingView

Real World Assets active market capitalization, USD. Source: DefiLlama

What to watch next

  • Progress on base-layer scalability updates, including any staged rollouts of ZK-EVM features and the transition plan for block confirmation systems.
  • Monitoring Vitalik Buterin’s updates on quantum-resistance and signatures—especially any published roadmaps or protocol proposals that affect verification and security costs.
  • Institutional on-chain initiatives by major banks and asset managers—tokenized funds, bank-issued stablecoins, and Layer-2 rollup deployments—testing real-world use cases on Ethereum.
  • On-chain activity and TVL trends across Ethereum and its Layer-2s, with particular attention to DEX volumes, DApp revenue, and Real World Assets metrics as benchmarks for adoption.
  • Regulatory developments that could influence DeFi infrastructure, on-chain asset tokenization, and cross-border settlement within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Sources & verification

  • Ether price and on-chain metrics referenced in coverage here: https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price
  • Vitalik Buterin roadmap discussion for faster quantum-resistant Ethereum: https://cointelegraph.com/news/vitalik-details-roadmap-for-faster-quantum-resistant-ethereum
  • Zero-knowledge privacy and AI API discussions for Ethereum devs: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-devs-propose-zero-knowledge-ai-api-privacy
  • Institutional engagement with Ethereum and related technology choices: https://cointelegraph.com/news/institutions-prefer-eth-faster-blockchains
  • Further notes on quantum-resistance roadmaps and fixes: https://cointelegraph.com/news/vitalik-proposes-4-fixes-quantum-resistance-roadmap-for-ethereum

Market reaction and key details

In a market where liquidity and risk sentiment oscillate with macro headlines, Ethereum remains a structural anchor for DeFi innovation. The 2026 price trajectory reflects a confluence of broader market cooling and the gnarly economics of scaling, but the on-chain narrative remains anchored in practical progress. The network’s ability to sustain a large share of TVL—65% when counting Layer-2 rollups such as Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism—demonstrates that institutions are still monetizing the security, settlement, and composability that Ethereum provides. This is not just about price; it is about a long-run framework in which on-chain finance, tokenized assets, and cross-border settlement can operate with a level of trust and efficiency that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.

From the perspective of on-chain activity, the cooling observed in February 2026—DEX volumes at $56.5 billion and Solana volumes at $95.5 billion in the same period—speaks to a broader cycle where speculative frenzy subsides and real-world usage remains a critical metric. The gap between price and on-chain activity can be misleading; even with lower volumes, the structural advantage of a robust ecosystem—fueled by major financial institutions exploring on-chain product lines—suggests the capacity for renewed growth when conditions improve. The data indicate that Ethereum’s dominance is not merely a function of its native token but of a broader ecosystem that includes Real World Assets and a suite of DeFi primitives that continue to mature.

Buterin’s guidance toward base-layer scalability and ZK-EVMs represents more than a technical pivot. It is a strategic attempt to reduce the friction in moving from experimental rollups to a trusted settlement layer that can scale without compromising security or decentralization. The staged rollout approach—beginning with a minority of participants before expanding to broader deployment—reflects a cautious, methodical upgrade path that has historically helped Ethereum avoid dislocations associated with rapid, sweeping changes. In a market where investors crave clarity, the emphasis on a pragmatic balance between rollups and a strengthened base layer offers a credible framework for sustaining long-term value creation.

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Ultimately, the story remains one of resilience and adaptation. While Ethereum’s price action in 2026 has been undeniably negative for momentum traders, the ecosystem’s structural assets—TVL concentration, institutional on-chain programs, and a roadmap oriented toward scalability and quantum-resilience—create a foundation upon which a renewed price cycle could emerge. The critical test will be in translating technical progress into practical improvements in user experience, developer tooling, and DApp economics that can sustain a broader, real-world demand for on-chain services.

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

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TON Blockchain is Now 10x Faster: Pavel Durov Explains the Upgrade

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TON Blockchain is Now 10x Faster: Pavel Durov Explains the Upgrade

Pavel Durov announced that the TON blockchain is now 10x faster. The Telegram founder shared the news on April 9, explaining that transactions now confirm in under one second. Before the upgrade, users waited over five seconds for finality.

“The TON blockchain just got upgraded and is now 10× faster,” Durov wrote. “Transactions are now instant, subsecond.”

How the Upgrade Works

The speed improvement comes from Catchain 2.0, a new consensus mechanism running under the hood. Blocks now generate every 400 milliseconds, which is 6x faster than before. A new streaming layer pushes updates to apps almost instantly rather than making them wait for the next block.

For everyday users, this means payments go through in about one second. Trades execute in real time. Apps respond immediately. The delays that made blockchain interactions feel slow compared to regular apps are largely gone.

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Step One of Make TON Great Again

Durov framed the upgrade as the first step in a seven-part plan he calls “Make TON Great Again,” or MTONGA. The name echoes a certain political slogan, but the goals are technical: making TON fast enough and cheap enough to compete with centralized platforms.

The next step on the roadmap: cutting transaction fees by 6x. TON fees are already low compared to Ethereum or Solana, but further reductions would make micropayments and high-frequency applications more practical.

Durov designed TON to work inside Telegram, which has over one billion users. His vision includes payments that feel like sending a message, Mini Apps that respond instantly, and DeFi tools that rival the speed of centralized exchanges.

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At five-second confirmation times, delivering that experience was difficult. At sub-second finality, it becomes possible. The infrastructure now matches what users expect from any other app on their phone.

What Comes Next for TON

The upgrade went live on mainnet on April 10, 2026. Durov confirmed the fee reduction as step two but has not yet shared the timeline for the remaining six steps in the MTONGA roadmap.

For developers building on TON, the recommendation is to update their apps to use streaming APIs rather than polling. In other words, the blockchain is faster. Apps need to catch up.

The post TON Blockchain is Now 10x Faster: Pavel Durov Explains the Upgrade appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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The magic word for digital assets adoption and success: choice

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The magic word for digital assets adoption and success: choice

Digital assets have moved well beyond the hype cycle. What began as an experiment in decentralized value transfer has evolved into a serious conversation about how capital markets, custody, settlement and asset ownership could be re-imagined for the digital age. Tokenization, programmable money and distributed ledgers may deliver faster settlement, greater transparency and new efficiencies across the financial system.

The opportunity is both real and transformative, but accelerated adoption of digital assets is not guaranteed.

The ecosystem’s success will not be determined by any single technology, protocol, innovator or platform. Instead, it will hinge on whether the industry embraces a principle that traditional markets have relied on and come to expect for more than a century: choice.

If investors, issuers and intermediaries are forced into narrow paths and left without options, the promise of digital assets risks being constrained by the very silos they were meant to dismantle. For Web3 to flourish, market participants must be able to choose how, where and when they engage.

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Choice in blockchain networks: avoiding silos

One of the most pressing challenges facing digital assets adoption today is fragmentation. New blockchains and networks continue to emerge, each optimized for different use cases, governance models or performance requirements. While innovation is healthy, disconnected ecosystems can quickly become a barrier to scale.

Without interoperability, assets risk being locked into isolated environments, limiting liquidity, mobility and investor access. The result is a digital version of the same inefficiencies that have historically plagued financial markets, with the added benefits of being faster and more complex.

Interoperability has the potential to change that result. A “network of networks” approach enables assets to move securely across platforms, enabling market participant firms and investors to take full advantage of tokenization’s potential while preserving market integrity and scale. It simplifies use cases, unlocks new business models and supports regulatory consistency, without forcing the industry to converge on a single chain.

Indeed, some investors may prefer open, public blockchains, while others may gravitate toward private blockchains. It’s not a matter of ‘or’ – both can and should be available.

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Achieving this vision will require collaboration. Market infrastructure providers, technology firms and regulators must work together to establish frameworks that prioritize compatibility and interoperability over control. In a recent white paper authored by The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) in collaboration with Clearstream, Euroclear and BCG, we explored how shared standards and coordinated governance could help advance interoperability while maintaining trust and resilience. The message was and remains clear: interoperability is foundational to scale and the future growth of digital markets.

Choice in what assets to tokenize (and when!)

Tokenization is often discussed as an inevitability, but inevitability should not be confused with immediacy. Not every asset will tokenize, and those that do will not do so at the same pace.

For example, while The Depository Trust Corporation (DTC), as a securities depository, facilitates the post‑trade settlement of securities representing over $100 trillion in value, we are not advocating for broad, indiscriminate, or immediate tokenization. Particularly in the early stages of this ecosystem, disciplined sequencing, intentionality, and caution are essential.

Certain asset classes, especially those with clear operational inefficiencies, high reconciliation costs or settlement frictions, are natural early candidates for tokenization. Others may follow as technology matures, regulatory clarity increases, and market demand evolves. Giving issuers and investors the ability to decide what makes sense for their needs, and on their timeline, reduces risk and builds confidence.

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Choice, in this context, is about sequencing and needs. It allows the market to learn, adapt and scale responsibly rather than forcing adoption before the infrastructure is ready.

Choice in how investors want to hold real-world assets

Digital transformation does not mean abandoning established investing principles and processes.

For many institutional investors, tokenized assets will coexist with traditional holdings for many years to come. Some will prefer onchain representations for their operational efficiency or programmability. Others will continue to rely on established custody models, particularly as compliance and risk frameworks evolve.

A successful digital asset ecosystem can support both. Investors should be able to hold assets in tokenized form alongside traditional securities – and even switch back and forth between them – without sacrificing legal certainty, operational continuity or even the feeling of being in control. Flexibility ensures participation is driven by value, not obligation, and that trust is earned, not assumed.

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Choice in wallets: empowering the client

Perhaps the most tangible expression of choice is the wallet.

As digital assets enter mainstream financial markets, participants will bring different preferences, risk tolerances and operational requirements. Some will prioritize self-custody. Others will rely on institutional-grade solutions. Many will want the freedom to change over time.

Wallet selection should belong to clients (market participant firms). No prescribed wallet. No mandated standard. This model empowers market participants to choose based on their own security needs, regulatory considerations, geographic requirements or internal controls.

This flexibility is essential for adoption at scale. Markets will thrive when financial institutions have the opportunity to engage on their own terms and can make decisions based on their clients’ and investors’ strategies, needs and preferences.

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The path forward

The success of the digital assets ecosystem will not be built on constraints and limitations. Instead, it will be built on options: choice in blockchain, in assets, in custody and in wallets. These are practical requirements for facilitating growth.

If the industry gets this right, digital assets can deliver on their promise: more inclusive, efficient and resilient markets. If it gets it wrong, it risks recreating the limitations of the past on faster rails.

Choice is the key to making digital assets work for everyone.

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White House Warns Staff as Iran Bets Spark Insider Concerns

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White House Warns Staff as Iran Bets Spark Insider Concerns

The White House warned staff against improperly using confidential information to place bets in futures markets after suspicious oil trades ahead of President Donald Trump’s March 23 Iran announcement drew scrutiny, according to Reuters.

Reuters reported on Thursday that the White House sent the internal email on March 24, a day after Trump ordered a five-day delay in attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure.

The warning followed a roughly $500 million bet on Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude futures placed in a one-minute burst shortly before Trump’s March 23 announcement, according to Reuters calculations based on exchange data. Oil prices fell about 15% after the policy shift.

The episode has intensified scrutiny of whether officials or politically connected traders could profit from nonpublic information tied to military or policy decisions. It has also added momentum to a broader push in Washington to tighten rules around prediction-market trading.

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The STOCK Act amendment in the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) prohibits federal officials, congress members, executive staff and judicial officers from using non-public information derived from their positions to trade commodity, futures or options markets. The amendment was signed into law on April 4, 2012.

Cointelegraph has approached the White House for a copy of the internal email.

Related: US Senate bill targets prediction markets on war and assassinations

Lawmakers respond to prediction market insider trading concerns

Lawmakers have also stepped up scrutiny of prediction markets, where well-timed bets tied to military and political events have raised similar concerns about the misuse of privileged information. Polymarket traders netted around $1 million by accurately betting when the US would strike Iran.

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In response to the concerns, Congressman Adrian Smith and Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski introduced the Preventing Real-time Exploitation and Deceptive Insider Congressional Trading Act (PREDICT Act) on March 25, a bipartisan bill seeking to ban members of Congress and federal officials from prediction market trading.

On March 26, US lawmakers Todd Young, Elissa Slotkin, John Curtis and Adam Schiff unveiled the bipartisan Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026, a bill aimed at curbing prediction market insider trading by government officials.

End Prediction Market Corruption Act. Source: Merkley.senate.gov

The same day, Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the End Prediction Market Corruption Act, seeking to ban event contract trading by government officials with “material non-public information,” including the president, vice president and members of Congress.

Magazine: Crypto traders ‘fool themselves’ with price predictions — Peter Brandt