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Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has highlighted the need for crypto communities to cultivate ethical environments and reject harmful behavior. According to NS3.AI, Buterin criticized the Bitcoin community for its apparent unconditional support of influential figures like El Salvador's president, who has adopted a top-down approach to Bitcoin adoption. He also noted that Luna's choice not to build on Ethereum was intentional. Buterin emphasized that communities should actively support ethical actions, acknowledging that some malicious conduct is inevitable.

Ethereum is showing signs of structural weakness as recent price rebounds appear corrective rather than impulsive, according to crypto analyst CyrilXBT.In a post on X, CyrilXBT noted that while Ether (ETH) remains positioned within a higher-timeframe demand zone, market behavior suggests a lack of aggressive buying interest. The absence of strong bid-side momentum typically indicates that traders are not yet ready to increase risk exposure.“Price is bouncing, but the structure is corrective — not impulsive,” the analyst said, signaling that current moves may represent short-term relief rather than the start of a sustained trend reversal.Historically, Ethereum tends to act as a market leader during periods of renewed risk appetite. When ETH shows strong impulsive moves, it often precedes broader strength across altcoins. However, that leadership signal has not yet appeared in the current market environment.The muted response suggests traders remain cautious, with capital preservation taking priority amid ongoing macro uncertainty and fragile sentiment across digital assets.Until Ethereum begins to show decisive buying pressure and trend-following momentum, analysts say the broader crypto market may struggle to transition into a full risk-on phase. 

On January 24, Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua shared insights from BlackRock's 2026 thematic outlook report, highlighting Ethereum's potential as a key beneficiary of asset tokenization. According to BlockBeats, approximately 65% of tokenized assets are currently deployed on the Ethereum network.Yi Lihua emphasized that the globalization of stablecoins and the integration of finance onto blockchain are significant opportunities for Ethereum. He noted that short-term fluctuations are a normal part of the process, and his recent efforts have focused on buying more Ethereum during dips and actively participating in various Ethereum capital platforms to help them expand and reinvest in Ethereum. He believes that practical efforts and a bullish approach will yield substantial results in the long run.

Ethereum's price fluctuations could lead to substantial liquidations on major centralized exchanges. According to ChainCatcher, Coinglass data indicates that if Ethereum's price falls below $2,805, the cumulative liquidation intensity of long positions on these exchanges could reach $837 million. Conversely, if Ethereum surpasses $3,100, the cumulative liquidation intensity of short positions could amount to $723 million.

According to Binance Market Data, Ethereum (ETH) crossed the 3,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 3,003.620117 USDT, with 2.17% increase in 24 hours.

Ethereum developers are confronting significant challenges in aligning the scope and timeline for the Glamsterdam upgrade, according to PANews. During the 173rd Ethereum consensus layer core developers meeting, it was acknowledged that substantial reductions in the upgrade's scale might be necessary to meet the mid-year launch target. Although developers have not explicitly confirmed a mismatch between the upgrade's scope and the proposed timeline, they recognize the potential issue and aim to resolve it by the end of February. The meeting discussed the possibility of removing EIP 7732 from Glamsterdam if an interoperable version cannot be achieved by late February, postponing it to a future hard fork. Additionally, updates on other developments were shared: Consensys' Teku client team reported node performance issues discovered during mainnet stress testing, which are being addressed and have delayed their participation in Glamsterdam. EIP 7928 requires minor API change reviews by consensus layer clients, while the deadline for submitting the Headliner EIP proposal for the Hegota upgrade is February 4. Some client teams have completed preliminary work on library updates to support EIP-7688.

New regulatory relaxations are poised to enhance the influence of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs by easing options trading restrictions. According to NS3.AI, these changes are anticipated to boost market participation, liquidity, and investor flexibility. The update indicates a potential expansion of crypto investment products and improved accessibility for both retail and institutional investors.

The number of ETH queued to join the Ethereum Proof of Stake (PoS) network has been steadily increasing, reaching 3,068,886 ETH, the highest since July 2023. According to BlockBeats, this surge reflects strong staking demand, primarily driven by Ethereum treasury companies and institutions like BitMine, which have recently staked significant amounts of ETH. On-chain data reveals that BitMine has staked a total of 1,943,200 ETH. The activation delay for new validators is currently estimated at around 53 days and 7 hours. Meanwhile, the Ethereum PoS network's staking exit queue has been cleared, indicating that users can now almost immediately withdraw their staked ETH.

Etherscan has reported a significant rise in the usage of the Ethereum privacy project RAILGUN. According to Odaily, recent blockchain data indicates a growing trend in daily transactions involving privacy tokens, with a record high of 328 transactions in a single day. Privacy applications are becoming more widespread on the Ethereum network. Users can enable privacy token transactions by selecting 'Additional Filter Conditions' on the Etherscan platform. Once the privacy mode is activated, users can conduct private transfers and interact with DeFi without exposing their on-chain activities.

Ethereum's mainnet has seen a significant increase in daily active addresses, surpassing all Layer 2 networks. According to ChainCatcher, data from Token Terminal indicates that the number of active addresses on Ethereum's mainnet has exceeded those on Layer 2 solutions. This development highlights Ethereum's continued dominance in the blockchain space, as it maintains a higher level of user engagement compared to its Layer 2 counterparts.

BlackRock's 2026 Thematic Outlook underscores Ethereum's pivotal role in the tokenized assets sector, positioning it as a key infrastructure for on-chain settlement and fee capture. According to NS3.AI, Ethereum held over 65% of tokenized assets as of early January 2026. However, its market share may face challenges as asset issuance diversifies across various blockchains and rollups increase off-chain transaction volumes. The report highlights the complexities of a growing multi-chain ecosystem, which could impact Ethereum's dominance in fee monetization. This raises questions about the future of settlement fees directly linked to ETH and emphasizes the significance of organic, economic throughput in maintaining its position.

Ethereum's price fluctuations could lead to substantial liquidation events on major centralized exchanges. According to ChainCatcher, data from Coinglass indicates that if Ethereum surpasses $3,107, the cumulative liquidation intensity for short positions on mainstream centralized exchanges will reach $1.539 billion. Conversely, if Ethereum falls below $2,817, the cumulative liquidation intensity for long positions will amount to $683 million.

Taiko, an Ethereum layer-2 project, is preparing for a significant upgrade named Shasta, which aims to substantially lower rollup costs. According to NS3.AI, the Shasta upgrade will streamline the system to three essential contracts, significantly reducing gas costs associated with proposing and proving. Currently undergoing internal testing, Shasta is set to be deployed on the Hoodi testnet shortly, with its mainnet launch contingent upon DAO approval.

On Jan 22, 2026, 08:13 AM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Ethereum has dropped below 3,000 USDT and is now trading at 2,996.719971 USDT, with a narrowed narrowed 0.90% increase in 24 hours.

The number of ETH queued for entry into the Ethereum Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network has risen to 2,818,506, according to validatorqueue data. According to ChainCatcher, this amount is valued at approximately $8.49 billion, with an estimated activation delay of around 48 days and 22 hours.The primary reason for this increase is BitMine's recent decision to stake a significant amount of its ETH holdings. Meanwhile, the Ethereum PoS network's staking exit queue has been cleared, with no users currently opting to withdraw their staked ETH.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has suggested integrating distributed validator technology (DVT) into the blockchain's staking mechanism to streamline the process and enhance the underlying technology. According to Cointelegraph, Buterin introduced the concept of 'native DVT' in a post on the Ethereum Research forum, highlighting its potential to allow Ether (ETH) stakers to operate without depending entirely on a single node. Currently, Ethereum validators are limited to running one node to secure the blockchain, which can lead to penalties if the node fails. Implementing DVT would enable validators to distribute their keys across multiple nodes, thereby minimizing the risk of penalties. Buterin explained that the key is secret-shared among several nodes, with all signatures being threshold signed, ensuring the node functions correctly as long as more than two-thirds of them remain honest. Buterin noted that various protocols utilize DVT, although they do not perform full consensus within each validator, offering slightly less robust guarantees but simpler setups. He proposed that DVT should be embedded within the protocol itself, suggesting a straightforward alternative by enshrining DVT into the protocol. His design allows a validator to create up to 16 keys or 'virtual identities,' which operate independently but are recognized as one entity by the blockchain. This 'group identity' is considered to have taken an action, such as block creation, only if a sufficient number of 'virtual identities' approve it, with rewards or penalties assigned based on the majority's actions. Buterin emphasized the simplicity of this design from a user's perspective, as DVT staking involves running copies of a standard client node. He added that this approach would benefit security-conscious stakers with substantial ETH holdings, enabling them to stake in a more secure setup without relying on a single node. This would facilitate stakers in managing their tokens independently rather than through a provider, thereby enhancing the decentralization of staking. Buterin's proposal is part of his ongoing efforts to make Ethereum more user-friendly, though it requires further discussion before potential implementation into the network.

On Jan 21, 2026, 16:44 PM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Ethereum has dropped below 2,900 USDT and is now trading at 2,891.600098 USDT, with a narrowed 3.70% decrease in 24 hours.

On January 22, during a market rebound, 'Maji' increased their Ethereum holdings by 250 ETH, according to BlockBeats. As of the time of reporting, 'Maji' holds a 25x leveraged long position in Ethereum valued at $2.226 million, with a total of 750 ETH. The liquidation price is set at $2942.49.

On Jan 21, 2026, 15:16 PM(UTC). According to Binance Market Data, Ethereum has crossed the 3,000 USDT benchmark and is now trading at 3,002.689941 USDT, with a narrowed narrowed 0.33% decrease in 24 hours.