Ethereum (ETH) trades near $1,730, a level last seen in March 2023, after losing 65% from its August 2025 all-time high. Meanwhile, its biggest upgrade since The Merge is approaching with almost no market attention.
On-chain activity remains at bull market levels, yet social interest has collapsed. The technical structure, however, keeps pointing lower as a nine-month downtrend presses the Ethereum price against its last major support.
Glamsterdam Becomes the Catalyst Nobody Is Watching
The Glamsterdam upgrade will be Ethereum’s first major base-layer throughput overhaul since 2022, changing how the network assembles blocks. Crypto analyst Ted Pillows called it the biggest Ethereum upgrade since The Merge.
According to his estimates, the gas limit will rise from about 60 million to 200 million, roughly three times higher. He also projects throughput of up to 10,000 transactions per second and gas fees up to 78% lower.
Devnet-5 and Devnet-6 are already running. Pillows points to an internal mainnet target in late August, while Q3 2026 remains the realistic launch window after the ePBS delay.
“Feels like a fundamental H2 catalyst that’s still flying under the radar while ETH is trading near the lows,” Pillows wrote.
The upgrade also arrives alongside Vitalik Buterin’s Lean Ethereum roadmap, which targets over 10x lower fees but has drawn pushback on its timeline.
Some traders are already positioning aggressively for a rebound. One wallet just opened a $19.9 million ETH long with 20x leverage, with a liquidation price sitting only $50 below its entry. Analysts recently warned that unliquidated longs already dominate major assets, making such bets exceptionally fragile.
On-Chain Data Shows Real Usage Without the Hype
Glassnode data reveals a striking divergence. The 30-day moving average of active addresses holds near 450,000, the same band recorded in August and September 2025, when the Ethereum price traded above $4,500 at cycle highs.
Network usage has therefore decoupled from price. Activity peaked near 740,000 addresses in February 2026, and current readings remain historically elevated even with ETH down roughly 65% from the top.
Sentiment tells the opposite story. Santiment shows ETH social dominance at just 0.587%, among its lowest readings in over a year.
There is no hype and no capitulation chatter either, only apathy. Historically, such disinterest has often accompanied late-stage bear phases rather than market tops.
ETH Price Prediction: $1,754 Is the Line in the Sand
Source: Original Article
