Ethereum's (ETH +4.12%) price is down 27% during the past 12 months, so many investors are eager for any bullish narrative that might suggest that things might be looking up for the cryptocurrency. Eventually, those better days will roll around.
I also predict three important things will happen with Ethereum in 2026.
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1. Glamsterdam isn't going to be a game changer
My first prediction is that the major Ethereum network upgrade slated to launch in 2026 called Glamsterdam will probably not be the ingredient that supercharges a run in the coin's price.
If you're not in the loop, Ethereum activated the Pectra network upgrade on May 7, and then followed up with the Fusaka upgrade on Dec. 3. Those were the kind of upgrades that can change day-to-day behavior for developers and infrastructure providers.
They smoothed out a few of the chain's rough edges, implemented more predictable operations and less variable gas (user) fees, and added more tools for building flashier and more responsive apps. If you use Ethereum through an exchange or a crypto wallet, you might not necessarily feel the improvements firsthand, but the ecosystem does.
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Glamsterdam's current headline items are quite technical in nature and even more removed from the average user's experience. At best, there may be some additional limits set on how high gas prices are allowed to go when the network is under heavy load. However, with the crypto's traffic surges and the attending outrageous fee spikes already looking like things of the past (knock on wood), the benefits of the upgrade may be largely theoretical due to past improvements making a lot of headway on the fee problem.
Therefore, keep your expectations about Glamsterdam's impact on Ethereum's price fairly modest. There's no mechanism for a big upside.
2. Stablecoins and tokenized assets keep pulling institutions onto the rails
The total stablecoin supply in the crypto sector is about $309.5 billion, and Ethereum's share of it is about 54%. On Ethereum itself, stablecoins total roughly $165.1 billion in circulating value.
No other network comes even close to that sum. Capital held on a chain tends to beget more capital flowing into the chain as its presence usually implies the ability to earn a decent yield within the same ecosystem. I predict that through 2026, financial institutions will be moving a lot of their capital onto Ethereum, which means they will likely be pumping up the size of its stablecoin base, as well.
Tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), representing digital ownership of stocks, bonds, and other investments, are a smaller asset class than stablecoins but are going to be one of increasing importance, as institutions will want to use them to reduce friction in their asset issuance and trading processes. Ethereum currently has $12.6 billion in such tokenized RWAs, which are distributed (tradable) on the chain. As that sum increases, it could push up the value of Ethereum, as all transactions on the network require paying gas fees with Ether coins.
3. Ethereum's importance inside crypto will increase, even if the coin's price lags
There are many smart contract chains. There are fewer chains that reliably serve as the settlement layer for decentralized finance (DeFi), meaning financial applications that run on smart contracts instead of through banks. There are even fewer that have smart contract support, large bases of critical assets like stablecoins and tokenized U.S. treasuries, and a large population of native app developers.
Ethereum has all those things. At the same time, all of its true competitors are substantially smaller and many of them are barely utilized by anyone for any purpose. Furthermore, only Ethereum has its founder, Vitalik Buterin, on its roster. In case you aren't familiar, he's a visionary thought leader and a generational technical talent, and much of the crypto sector looks to his views on myriad issues.
What all of this means is that Ethereum is going to become an even more important ecosystem in the future. Whereas the past saw many different networks take their shots at becoming established and distinguished in these areas, Ethereum appears to be the last one standing. The blockchain, therefore, may benefit from a winner-takes-most dynamic when it comes to attracting new capital inflows seeking smart contract exposure.
That doesn't prove that Ethereum will outperform as an investment. Still, I predict that investors who pay close attention to Ethereum, its leaders, and its ecosystem will find that their understanding of crypto and its competitive dynamics will improve dramatically throughout 2026 and beyond. I predict that for the foreseeable future, pretty much every new smart-contract-capable network is going to be compared to Ethereum as the main benchmark.
