Ethereum (ETH) is once again leading the discussion as its Fusaka upgrade goes live and the ETH price returns firmly above the $3,200 mark. After weeks of volatile trading and lingering fear in the broader crypto market, the combination of a major technical overhaul and increasing on-chain activity is giving traders a new narrative to follow.
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Over the past 24 hours, ETH has rallied around 4-5%, outperforming most large-cap cryptocurrencies and reclaiming a key psychological zone near $3,200. Market data shows rising volumes and a notable resumption of accumulation by the largest holders, although sentiment indicators are still in “fear” territory.
ETH's price trends to the downside, but records some gains on the daily chart. Source: ETHUSD on Tradingview
Fusaka upgrade refocuses attention on Ethereum scaling roadmap
The Fusaka Upgrade, the second major update to the Ethereum network of 2025, enabled at a block height of 18,200,000. At its core is PeerDAS, a data availability sampling system that allows nodes to store only slices of blob data instead of entire payloads.
This change is estimated to increase blob throughput by approximately eight times, reducing congestion and helping Layer 2 networks transmit more transactions through Ethereum’s base layer.
Developers describe Fusaka as another step in Ethereum’s long-term scaling roadmap, aligning the main chain with growing Layer 2 activity.
Beyond PeerDAS, the upgrade brings together a series of Ethereum improvement proposals that change gas limits, transaction sizes, cryptographic support, and block configuration, with the goal of improving efficiency while keeping validator requirements manageable.
Whales, ETFs and technical signals cluster around $3,500
On-chain data shows that “shark” wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH have accelerated their accumulation in recent weeks, buying aggressively on dips around $2,700-3,000.
Institutional interest also appears to be increasing. BitMine reportedly added over 18,000 ETH to its treasury ahead of Fusaka, while US Ethereum spot ETFs saw notable net inflows.
Technically, ETH is trading around $3,200 and analysts are monitoring resistance between $3,300 and $3,500. Short-term models predict a move towards around $3,537 within a few days, implying an upside of around 10% if the current trend continues.
However, indicators remain mixed. The broader pattern is still labeled as “bearish” and any pullback could see ETH retest support around $3,100, $3,000 or even the $2,850 area.
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For now, the Fusaka upgrade has brought the conversation back to basics, with Ethereum price action testing whether a boost in confidence is enough to break through the $3,500 barrier.
Cover image from ChatGPT, ETHUSD chart from Tradingview
