Ethereum Called Oct 20, 2026 at $2,430. Since then: 0% against bitcoin. Score today: 85 out of 100 under our published rule.
| Track record | +10 |
|---|---|
| Size (top 20) | +10 |
| Trading activity | +10 |
| Coins still to come | +10 |
| Distance from peak | −5 |
What would change it: It would drop to Watch if the score fell below 72 (14 points lower). Every call is tracked on the Scorecard.
Research, not financial advice. A verdict rates the coin's health under a fixed rule; it is not a price prediction or advice for your situation. Crypto can lose most or all of its value.
What it is
Ethereum is a blockchain that runs programs, called smart contracts, as well as simple payments. It launched in July 2015 and became the base layer for much of what people now do in crypto: stablecoins, lending and trading apps, NFTs, and the cheaper 'layer 2' networks that settle their records back to it. ETH, the native coin, pays the fees for all of that activity.
Since September 2022, Ethereum has used proof of stake instead of mining. Validators lock up 32 ETH each and take turns proposing and confirming blocks. A validator that breaks the rules can lose part of its deposit. Most people who stake do it through exchanges or pooled services rather than running their own validator.
There is no hard cap on ETH. New coins are paid to validators as rewards, while part of every transaction fee is permanently destroyed, so total supply can rise or fall depending on how busy the network is. The non-profit Ethereum Foundation funds research, but upgrades are coordinated in public among several independent software teams. The most recent major upgrade, Fusaka, went live in December 2025; the next one, Glamsterdam, was still being tested in October 2026.
What can go wrong
- Much of the activity has moved to layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum, Base and Optimism. Each adds its own operators and bridges, and some can still be upgraded or paused by a small team.
- A large share of staked ETH runs through a few providers, led by liquid staking services and big exchanges. Heavy reliance on any one of them concentrates control over the network.
- Apps built on Ethereum are only as safe as their code. Bugs and stolen keys in those apps have cost users billions of dollars over the years, even while the base network kept running normally.
- Because there is no supply limit, ETH can become inflationary when network activity is low and less ETH is burned in fees.
ETH lives on many networks that share the same address format, including Ethereum itself, Arbitrum and Base. Before sending, confirm the receiving wallet or exchange supports the exact network you selected, or the funds can end up stuck.
Safety checks
- Track recordGoodTrading since 2015, about 11 years. It has been through at least one full market cycle.
- Trading activityGood$10.82 billion traded in the last 24 hours, 3.6% of its market value. That's enough activity that a normal-size order shouldn't move the price.
- Coins still to comeGood122.2 million of 122.2 million total coins are in circulation, so about 0% or less are still to be released. Little new supply is left to hit the market. There is no fixed maximum, so new coins can keep being created.
- Distance from its peakCautionDown 51% from its all-time high of $4,946 in August 2025. Many buyers from the peak are still underwater, and they often sell into any rally.
- Past yearFor context−38.4% over the past year, against −25.3% for bitcoin. It has done worse than simply holding bitcoin.
- Contract powersGoodThis is the native coin of its own network, not a token issued by a smart contract, so there's no owner key that can mint, freeze or tax it. Changes to the rules go through the network's upgrade process.
History of trouble and big events
- 2016: An attacker drained a large fund called The DAO; the community reversed it with a hard fork, and those who refused kept the original chain going as Ethereum Classic.
- 2022: The Merge switched Ethereum from mining to proof of stake in September.
- 2025: About $1.5 billion in ETH and related tokens was stolen from the exchange Bybit in February, a failure of the exchange's security rather than of Ethereum itself.
Holding a token on a smaller network, or got sent one you don't recognize? Run its address through the free checker. Copycat tokens often borrow big names.