Author: Ciaran Lyons, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Wu Zhu, Jinse Finance
Since the Pectra upgrade was released, Ethereum has surged by 20% in the past 24 hours. Some cryptocurrency traders believe that the continuous increase in ETH long positions may signal a "turning point" for the asset. For most of 2025, the asset's market sentiment has been unstable.
According to CoinMarketCap data, at the time of publication, Ethereum was trading at $2,230, up 19.6% in the past 24 hours. Anonymous cryptocurrency trader Daan Crypto Trades described it as a "quite crazy candle". Within the same 24 hours, Ethereum's open interest (OI) surged by 21%.
Ethereum Price Surge Catches Traders Off Guard
This surge occurred after the much-anticipated Pectra upgrade. The upgrade went live on May 7th, introducing new wallet features, increasing staking limits, and improving Ethereum's scalability.
Renowned cryptocurrency trader Alex Kruger stated on May 8th that Ethereum's price surge was primarily due to "new long positions".
According to CoinGlass, if Ethereum falls to $2,000, approximately $2.06 billion in long positions will face liquidation risk. This price surge caught many traders off guard, with around $328 million in Ethereum short positions being liquidated during the same period.
Cryptocurrency trader Bob Loukas said: "ETH holders believe this might finally be a turning point."
2025 has not been a strong year for Ethereum's price. Due to low market sentiment throughout the year, Ethereum's price dropped 56% from its January 1st price to $1,472 on April 9th, which was the year's lowest point.
Ethereum has risen 52% in the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap
Ethereum's recent rise aligns with Bitcoin's 3.59% increase in the same period and nearly 6% rise over the past seven days, breaking the $10,000 mark for the first time in over three months on May 8th.
Nick Forster, founder of on-chain options protocol Derive, stated in an interview that Ethereum's recent price surge is the result of multiple factors, not just the Pectra hard fork.
Forster pointed out that the US-UK trade agreement was a key factor driving Ethereum's price increase, with US President Donald Trump "significantly reducing tariffs on British cars and steel". He also mentioned Coinbase, which announced the acquisition of Deribit for $2.9 billion.
Since 2013, Ethereum's average return in the second quarter has been 62.2%. Based on the April 1st price, if history repeats itself, Ethereum could reach around $2,950 by the end of June.
However, this momentum has not yet intersected with spot Ethereum ETFs. According to Farside data, on May 8th, spot Ethereum ETFs experienced their third consecutive day of outflows, totaling $16.1 million.
Meanwhile, with Bitcoin's surge, the entire cryptocurrency market's prices and sentiment have also increased. In the past 24 hours, the entire cryptocurrency market rose by 4.95%, and the cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index moved further into the "greed" zone, rising 8 points to 73.
