TLDR
- Ethereum (ETH) is holding above $1,700 support despite a 1.2% 24-hour decline
- EIP-9698 proposal aims to increase gas limit 100x over four years, potentially boosting transaction capacity
- Vitalik Buterin shared Layer-Zero scalability update with up to 832× efficiency improvement over current EVM
- Technical analysis shows a falling wedge pattern with a bullish target of $2,875
- Ethereum faces criticism from Cardano founder who warned Layer-2 networks could cause ETH to collapse within 15 years
Ethereum (ETH) is currently maintaining position above the $1,700 support level despite experiencing a 1.2% decline over the past 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is trading around $1,780 as of Monday, April 28, 2025.
This price stability comes as multiple scalability proposals emerge from key Ethereum researchers, potentially setting the stage for major throughput improvements on the world’s leading smart contract platform.
Dankrad Feist of the Ethereum Foundation has presented Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-9698), a plan to raise Ethereum’s gas limit by one hundred-fold over four years.
Starting around June 1, the proposal calls for a “deterministic gas limit growth schedule” to gradually increase the current 36 million gas limit to 3.6 billion.
The expansion would happen in two phases: a tenfold increase over about two years followed by another tenfold increase.
If implemented properly, Ethereum’s transaction processing capacity could theoretically increase to over 2,000 transactions per second (TPS).
This would position Ethereum more competitively against high-throughput blockchains like Solana, which currently processes between 800-1,050 non-vote TPS.
Technical Analysis Points to Recovery
Ethereum has recently shown strength against Bitcoin, reclaiming its local range and possibly indicating a broader market recovery.
Currently trading around $1,780, Ethereum peaked above $1,861 in recent days before slightly declining.
The daily RSI of 53 is trending down toward its neutral level of 50, showing diminishing bullish momentum.
Key levels to watch include immediate support at $1,700, critical support at $1,449, key resistance at $1,861, and a psychological target at $2,000.
Ethereum’s stabilization between $1,725 and $1,850 shows that bulls are defending important levels, though a catalyst is needed for the next major move.
Vitalik’s Layer-Zero Update Promises Major Improvements
In what appears to be a response to criticism from Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared a major Layer-Zero scalability update on Sunday.
Hoskinson had warned in a CNBC interview that “Layer-2’s are sucking out all the alpha for ETH” and that Ethereum “could collapse within 15 years” if this trend continues.
Buterin reposted research proposing a shift from the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) to a more efficient zkVM system using RISC-V standards.
According to the documentation, this update would expand Ethereum’s network capabilities with up to 832× fewer cycles than current EVM interpreters.
The improvements also include a 95.7% reduction in proving cycles, 30× throughput increase with GPU acceleration, and significant proof compression.
Technical charts show Ethereum printing a falling wedge pattern after 12% gains last week, suggesting a bullish reversal with a potential target at $2,875.
The Parabolic SAR indicator reinforces this bullish trend, suggesting buyers are now in control after months of selling pressure.
However, failure to maintain support around $1,569 could invalidate the bullish thesis, with $1,385 becoming a potential bearish target.
Ethereum’s price continues to face short-term volatility as Bitcoin’s dominance rises, but the mid-term momentum still leans in favor of bulls.
