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Ethereum

The London Hard Fork of Ethereum: What You Need to Know and What To Expect

Containing numerous Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including the vital 1559 and 3554, it’s worth exploring the key features of the upcoming London hard fork and how it could change the Ethereum network.

Although it was initially scheduled to take place in July, a more recent statement from an Ethereum developer asserted that the London hard fork will occur on August 4th, 2021.

Why does the Ethereum Blockchain need improvements?

Launched in 2015, the Ethereum network’s utilization has grown massively in the next six years as it’s arguably the most used blockchain in the space today. It is now the home to many stablecoins, numerous NFT and DeFi project, and its native digital asset which happens be the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap.

This utilization however, brought significant obstacles for the current proof-of-work algorithm. Those included delayed transactions and unreasonably high fees reaching four digits in USD on some extreme occasions.

The developers who worked on the ETH blockchain realized this and decided to make the network proof-of-stake. It’s a complicated process that will take years to develop, test, and implement before it can be completed.

They haven’t abandoned PoW networks and suggested several hard forks to improve their performance.

Istanbul and Berlin, then London

After the Istanbul and Berlin hard forks, now it’s time for the next one with a code name ‘London’ (named after the second annual developers’ conference in 2015).

Initially scheduled to take place in July 2021, its progress was going well as it had launched on several testnets, with the latest one being Ropsten.

However, it was delayed, and Ethereum developer Tim Beiko announced earlier this week that it’s expected to take place on August 4th between 13: 00 UTC and 17: 00 UTC at block number 12,965,000.

The London hard fork will contain several EIPs, most notable of which are 1559 and 3554. Each proposal must follow the guidelines in

, as explained in EIP-1.

“The EIP should provide a concise technical specification of the feature and a rationale for the feature. The EIP author is responsible for building consensus within the community and documenting dissenting opinions.”

EIP-1559 aims to reduce transaction fees through a somewhat controversial method. Instead of the user having to send a gas fee to a miner for the transaction to be included in a block, EIP-1559 proposes that gas fees to be sent to the network.

eip1559tip
EIP-1559: Gas to be sent to the network instead of miners. Source: BitMEX blog

This new pricing system will reduce Ether (ETH) supply by burning the fee. Each block will have a different base fee. It will depend on the network congestion, as if one block is 50% or more full with transactions, the fees will increase, and vice-versa.

EIP-3238, on the other hand, will target the difficulty time bomb. This is a feature that makes mining Ethereum more difficult. It is a goal for mining to become so difficult that miners will be forced to move to Ethereum 2.0.

eth-dif-2021
ETH difficulty long-term chart. source: Etherscan

At the moment, however, the network will not reach this point due to the difficulty. Initial plans indicated that EIP-3238 would delay the so-called time bomb until the second quarter of 2022. However, the more recently proposed EIP-3554, whose review period ends on July 14th, would postpone the difficulty bomb “to show effect the first week of December 2021.”

The developers explained the motivation behind EIP-3554 as follows:

“Targeting for the Shanghai upgrade and/or the Merge to occur before December 2021. Either the bomb can be readjusted at that time or removed altogether.”

The Controversy

While the aforementioned proposed upgrades might sound like a move in the right direction for most, not all parties are happy, especially with EIP-1559. The deflationary effect of burning fees on the second-largest cryptocurrency would be essentially caused by the charging of fees. Despite this being a potential boost to ETH’s value assets due to its lower supply, it will also reduce the profits of miners.

And, Ethereum mining has indeed been a lucrative business, with profits surging to new highs in the past year or so. This could change after the London hard fork. Users will still be able to “tip” miners if they wish.

Somewhat expectedly, many mining companies opposed the implementation of EIP-1559. Others argued that even though EIP-2656 – which lowers gas costs of transactions using modular exponentiation (ModExp) – should enhance the network’s security and practically, there would be some potential issues on that front.

Additionally, a recent report by CoinMetrics asserted that EIP-1559 might not help with reducing the gas fees at all. The report stated that high transaction costs are “fundamentally an issue of scaleability” and will continue to rise as long as dApp use continues to increase, which is the current trend.

The paper instead suggested a possible solution that could be used until Ethereum 2.0 is released. This comes from Layer-2 scaling networks, as many blockchain projects have already launched such products.

In any case, the London hardfork is one of the most anticipated events this year in cryptocurrency and will most likely have an important impact on Ethereum’s widely used blockchain.

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Ethereum

Ethereum Price Analysis: Does ETH Have the Strength to Rise Above $2K?

Ethereum’s price is yet to show any willingness to recover, as the market has been moving sideways over the past week.

However, the current level can initiate a rebound if the price holds above it.

Technical Analysis

By Edris Derakhshi (TradingRage)

The Daily Chart

ETH’s daily chart remains bearish, with the price struggling to hold above the $1,900 support area after a prolonged downtrend. A breakdown of this level could reinforce further downside, potentially targeting the $1,600 support zone if selling pressure persists. The 200-day moving average remains well above, located around the $2,900 mark, signaling a strong bearish bias.

Meanwhile, the RSI is in the oversold territory, which suggests a short-term bounce could occur. A decisive break above $2,000 with strong volume could shift momentum toward $2,200, but failure to do so would likely confirm continued weakness in the short term.

The 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour chart shows a breakout from the descending wedge pattern, indicating a potential trend reversal. However, price action remains trapped around the $1,900 resistance zone, with multiple rejections signaling a lack of strong bullish momentum.

The RSI is recovering but still below overbought conditions, suggesting room for further upside if ETH can close above this key resistance area. A confirmed breakout above $2,000 could trigger a rally toward $2,100-$2,200, while failure to hold above $1,900 may lead to a retest of the $1,800 support level. Volume confirmation will be crucial in determining whether this breakout sustains or results in another rejection.

Onchain Analysis

By Edris Derakhshi (TradingRage)

Exchange Reserve

The Ethereum exchange reserve chart shows a continuous decline in the amount of ETH held on exchanges, currently near multi-year lows at around 18.8 million. This suggests a long-term trend of accumulation, as fewer tokens are available for immediate selling. Typically, declining exchange reserves indicate that investors are moving ETH to self-custody or staking, reducing potential selling pressure.

Despite the price drop to $1,900, the lack of a significant spike in exchange reserves implies that panic selling might not be fully materialized, which supports the idea that long-term holders somehow remain confident. From a technical perspective, ETH is at a critical resistance zone near $1,900-$2,000, and if buyers step in, the supply squeeze could lead to a strong recovery.

However, if the asset fails to reclaim key levels and sentiment worsens, some ETH could flow back to exchanges, increasing selling pressure. Watching reserve trends alongside price action will be crucial in determining whether the current downtrend is nearing exhaustion or if further downside remains likely.

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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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Ethereum

Ethereum at a Crossroads: Will ETH Fall to $1,250?

The largest altcoin by market cap has been among the biggest underperformers during the late 2024/early 2025 bull run, which saw many assets, including BTC, chart fresh peaks.

ETH’s most recent performance has been even more painful, as the asset dumped to its lowest level since November 2023 at under $1,800. The question raised now by analysts is whether ETH will continue losing ground and dump to $1,250.

ETH at $1,250?

Remember 2021? Back then, ETH was charting massive gains and its price soared toward $5,000. In fact, speculations emerged about a potential event called the ‘flippening,’ in which Ethereum could surpass Bitcoin and become the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Fast-forward some three and a half years later and that seems as distant from reality as fiat money becoming disinflationary. ETH bottomed below $1,000 during the 2022 bear market but went on the offensive again two years later. It failed to decisively overcome the $4,000 target despite its numerous attempts to conquer it in 2024. The latest rejection came in mid-December.

Since then, ETH’s price has nosedived hard, which culminated (for now) earlier this week with a drop below $1,800. As such, Ethereum not only erased all the gains registered after Trump’s presidential election victory but even plunged to its lowest levels since November 2023.

According to Ali Martinez, a crypto analyst with over 130,000 followers on X, the asset’s price drop meant that it had broken out of a years-long parallel channel, which could spell further trouble. In fact, he forecasted a slump to $1,250 – a level not seen in over two years.

#Ethereum $ETH targets $1,250 after breaking out from this parallel channel! pic.twitter.com/XS3N9p8Unr

— Ali (@ali_charts) March 14, 2025

But ETH Whales Keep Buying

CryptoPotato has repeatedly reported in recent weeks Ethereum whales’ predominantly bullish behavior. Recall that within a 48-hour period alone, they accumulated 1.1 million ETH, which is nearly 1% of the total supply. At the prices back then, it was worth over $2 billion in USD.

Martinez brought another chart showing that these large entities acquired more than 420,000 ETH in the following five days, valued at $800 million at today’s prices. Such massive accumulations should benefit the underlying asset as they decrease the immediate selling pressure. However, ETH’s price is yet to stage a notable recovery as it still sits below $2,000.

Whales have bought more than 420,000 #Ethereum $ETH in the last five days! pic.twitter.com/ZFF57gbq0e

— Ali (@ali_charts) March 14, 2025

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Why Is Ethereum (ETH) Falling Without Major Liquidations? ITB Breaks It Down

The price of ether (ETH) has been steadily declining for months, with this plunge taking a turn for the worse recently. However, the market intelligence firm IntoTheBlock found that the latest dip did not trigger huge liquidations compared to previous events.

According to an IntoTheBlock tweet, ETH liquidations have remained relatively moderate despite the cryptocurrency dropping to levels not seen in more than a year.

ETH Is Dipping Without Major Liquidations

IntoTheBlock says the moderate liquidations can be traced to a significant decline in high-risk loans across lending platforms. Investors are taking a risk-off stance as they apply more caution in their positions. This is likely driven by macro concerns regarding potential global tariff tensions.

The United States has been knee-deep in economic uncertainty for a while after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs against its major trade partners, including China, Canada, and Mexico.

Although some industry analysts believe the trade tariffs will positively impact cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin (BTC), in the long term, the market has experienced high volatility since Trump made the announcements earlier last month. On the day Trump imposed the tariffs, about $400 billion was wiped out from the market, with the overall capitalization falling by at least 11% within 24 hours.

According to CoinMarketCap data, ETH has nosedived from the $2,800 level to at least $1,760 since early February. The second-largest crypto asset has been struggling, and just this week, it fell by roughly 13% after failing to hold a support level above $2,000. The coin is now trading at levels not seen since 2023. It was worth $1,900 at the time of writing.

ETH Price Outlook

CryptoPotato reported that ETH buyers have retreated and found support at the $1,800 level. However, it remains uncertain if ETH has bottomed and if this support level will be strong enough to reduce the selling pressure and allow the asset to start a recovery.

At its current price, ether is roughly 60% down from its mid-December high of $3,990. Unfortunately, further down pressure could drag the asset to $1,600. These possible scenarios, coupled with Ethereum’s underperformance against Bitcoin, have fueled investor caution.

Meanwhile, IntoTheBlock discovered a few days ago that ETH holders may be seeing this dip as a buying opportunity and are loading up on the asset. This is seen in the amount of ETH that left crypto exchanges last week—$1.8 billion worth of assets, marking the highest weekly amount since December 2022.

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