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The price of Ethereum jumped 1.7% over the past 24 hours to trade at $3,025 as of 4:02 a.m. EST, with trading volume dropping 23% to $12.4 billion.
This comes as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted in a New Year’s message on Thursday the long-held vision of Ethereum as a “global computer,” which is a shared, neutral platform for applications that can operate without relying on centralized intermediaries.
In the post, Buterin asserts that the true test of the Ethereum network lies in accomplishing its original mission, not chasing the latest crypto narratives.
Welcome to 2026! Milady is back.
Ethereum did a lot in 2025: gas limits increased, blob counts increased, node software quality improved, zkEVMs hit their performance milestones, and with zkEVM and PeerDAS, Ethereum took its biggest step towards becoming fundamentally…
– vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 1, 2026
Working as a world computer, Buterin says his vision centers on applications designed to operate without fraud, censorship or third-party control, even if their original developers disappear.
Therefore, for Ethereum to succeed, it must be usable globally and remain truly decentralized.
Additionally, Buterin claims that Ethereum has made significant progress in 2025, becoming faster, more reliable, and better able to handle growth without sacrificing its decentralized design.
Therefore, Ethereum is poised to become a new type of shared computing platform rather than just a blockchain.
However, ETH is down 11% year to date. Can Ethereum Price Perform Well in 2026?
Ethereum price shows signs of recovery
THE ETH Price rose above the $3,000 level as it is still trading within a falling channel and is prohibited by the $3,400 level at the mid-channel level.
Ethereum has been in a sustained downtrend after hitting an all-time high above $4,900 in the last quarter of 2025.
This trend gained further fuel after Ethereum price fell below the 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMA), with a deadly crossover around $3,556 putting the bulls on notice.
However, ETH has now surpassed the 50-day SMA (3,006), indicating that buyers may step in to defend previous support around $2,800.
Major indicators also support the bullish sentiment, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) crossing the median level of 50, currently at 51.72, suggesting increased buying pressure.
Additionally, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) also cements the bullish outlook, with the blue MACD line moving above the orange signal line, indicating that positive momentum may be accelerating.
ETH Price Prediction
Based on the ETH/USD daily chart, ETH price action suggests a cautious outlook to the downside, with early signs of stabilization.
ETH is trading above the 50-day SMA, which keeps the broader trend technically slightly bullish, as the price attempts to base itself around the $3,000-$3,100 support zone.
In the short term, if ETH holds above this support and continues to respect the lower boundary of the descending channel, a relief bounce is possible.
A sustained move above the 50-day SMA near $3,050 to $3,100 could open the door for a recovery towards $3,300, followed by $3,600, which corresponds to a key Fibonacci retracement (0.236 and 0.382).
In a more bullish scenario, a daily close above the channel resistance and the $3,600-$3,700 area would significantly improve the market structure. This would increase the likelihood of Ethereum price returning above $4,000.
On the bearish side, failure to maintain the psychological $3,000 level would weaken the current base. A breakdown below this zone could send Ethereum back towards $2,700, with greater downside risk towards $2,400 – $2,600, which previously served as a major demand zone.
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