📈 Ethereum's 2026: Waiting for Surprises

"Ethereum will bring surprises" is no longer just a empty talk. As whales quietly deploy, protocols continue to evolve, and trillions of assets are poised to move—change may come sooner than expected.

Today’s Ethereum is no longer just a public chain. It is becoming an indispensable foundation in the digital world:

🔹 Approximately 64.4% of stablecoins are issued on Ethereum
🔹 About 65.66% of tokenized assets/RWA are hosted on it
🔹 Around 68.2% of total DeFi locked value is accumulated here

It is transforming into:
🌐 The settlement layer for global open finance
⚙ The engine for the next generation of decentralized applications
🗝 A trusted bridge connecting the physical and digital worlds

2026 is seen by many as a critical turning point. The maturity of zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology may truly open a new stage of scalability:

• Reduced node burden, allowing ordinary devices to participate in validation
• Increased throughput, paving the way for high-concurrency applications
• With subsequent upgrades, network efficiency and capacity will reach new heights

This means a faster, lighter, and more decentralized future.

Capital has already taken action. The movements of institutions and whales often serve as leading signals for trends:

• Bitmine recently completed staking nearly 75,000 ETH
• Institutions like SharpLink are increasing their holdings of related assets
• Analysis indicates that the stablecoin and RWA markets are heading towards a trillion-dollar scale, with sovereign funds possibly increasing their allocation significantly

With ZK technology becoming widespread, we may see:
➤ Seamless cross-chain operations
➤ Privacy protection becoming optional
➤ Further enhancement of network resistance to censorship

While the traditional world is still trying to understand blockchain, Ethereum is already building the framework for the future digital economy.

Looking back, the changes are clearly visible:
✓ Post-merge energy consumption reduced by about 99.95%
✓ Layer 2 has increased transaction efficiency by a hundredfold
✓ Developer ecosystem remains active, with steady annual growth
✓ Total locked value continues to lead the industry

True transformation does not come from prophecy but from day-to-day building.

2026 may just be another visible coordinate in this long construction process. #加密市场小幅回暖 #Gate社区圣诞氛围感 #2025Gate年度账单