Ethereum Price Forecast: Can ETH Sustain Momentum After the Pectra Surge?

Ethereum has shown strong performance recently, trading around $2,576 after peaking at $2,750 earlier in the week. This surge comes in the wake of the Pectra upgrade—a pivotal development that has improved the Ethereum network’s efficiency and strengthened its appeal among users and developers.

What Is Driving Ethereum’s Price Surge?

The Pectra upgrade introduces key technical changes to Ethereum, notably making the cryptocurrency deflationary by burning a portion of gas fees. It also enhances the performance of layer-two scaling solutions like Arbitrum by increasing the number of data blobs per block from six to nine. This leads to faster transactions and reduced congestion, directly contributing to Ethereum’s recent upswing.

The upgrade addresses some of the pain points that have allowed competing chains like Solana and Sui to gain traction in recent years. Yet, Ethereum maintains dominance in total value locked (TVL) and stablecoin holdings across the DeFi ecosystem, according to DeFi Llama. Furthermore, Ethereum’s decentralized nature gives it an edge in security and resilience against network attacks.

Technical Outlook: Can ETH Break $3,000?

From a technical analysis standpoint, Ethereum is following a familiar pattern. A breakout from its consolidation range set the stage for a rally, and the price is now approaching a critical resistance zone near $3,000. This level previously acted as strong support and is expected to be tested again soon.

Although the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has entered overbought territory, history shows this does not always signal an immediate reversal. In past cycles, Ethereum has pushed higher even as RSI readings cooled, especially when a significant psychological level like $3,000 is within reach. Market sentiment could further propel prices if investors begin to experience fear of missing out (FOMO).

Caution Ahead: Possible Correction Looms

Despite the optimism, it’s important to consider potential risks. The price rally gained momentum after a golden cross formed between the 21-day and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMAs). A further bullish signal could emerge if shorter-term EMAs also cross above the 200-day EMA—an event that previously led to all-time highs.

However, the next hurdle is at $2,800, where Ethereum faced selling pressure in February. Today’s market sentiment—reflected in a Fear and Greed Index reading of 69—closely mirrors that earlier peak when greed was dominant, hinting at potential exhaustion in the rally.

Investors should exercise caution, especially given that many technical indicators are now flashing overbought signals. While a run to $3,000 is increasingly probable, taking profits on the way up and managing risk exposure would be wise as a sharp pullback remains a real possibility.