After the Pectra upgrade, ETH big pump 20%——is it a turning point?

Author: Ciaran Lyons, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Wu Zhu, Golden Finance

Since the release of the Pectra upgrade, Ethereum has surged by 20% in the past 24 hours. Some cryptocurrency traders believe that the continuous increase in long positions for ETH may signal a "turning point" for the asset. For most of 2025, the market sentiment for this asset has been unstable.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, as of the publication of this article, the trading price of Ethereum is $2,230, having increased by 19.6% in the past 24 hours. Anonymous cryptocurrency trader Daan Crypto Trades stated that this is a "pretty crazy candlestick." During the same 24 hours, Ethereum's open interest (OI) surged by 21%.

Ethereum Price Surge Catches Traders Off Guard

The recent surge occurred after the highly anticipated Pectra upgrade. This upgrade went live on May 7, introducing new wallet features, increasing staking limits, and improving Ethereum's scalability.

Renowned cryptocurrency trader Alex Kruger stated on May 8 that the surge in Ethereum's price is mainly due to "new long positions."

According to data from CoinGlass, if Ethereum falls back to $2,000, approximately $2.06 billion in long positions will face liquidation risk. This price surge has caught many traders off guard, with about $328 million in Ethereum short positions being liquidated during the same period.

Cryptocurrency trader Bob Loukas stated: "ETH holders believe this could ultimately become a turning point."

The year 2025 was not a strong year for Ethereum's price, as the market sentiment remained low throughout the year, causing the price of Ethereum to drop by 56% from its price on January 1 to $1,472 on April 9—this was the lowest point of the year.

In the past 30 days, Ethereum has risen by 52%. Source: CoinMarketCap

The recent rise of Ethereum aligns with Bitcoin's increase of 3.59% during the same period and nearly 6% over the past seven days, breaking the 100,000 USD mark for the first time in over three months on May 8.

Nick Forster, the founder of the on-chain options protocol Derive, stated in an interview that the recent surge in Ethereum's price is the result of multiple factors working together, not just the Pectra hard fork.

Foster pointed out that the US-UK trade agreement is a key factor driving the rise in Ethereum prices, with US President Donald Trump "significantly reducing tariffs on British cars and steel." He also mentioned the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which announced the acquisition of Deribit for $2.9 billion.

Since 2013, Ethereum's average return rate in the second quarter has been 62.2%. Based on the price on April 1, if history repeats itself, Ethereum could reach around $2950 by the end of June.

However, this momentum has not yet intersected with the spot Ethereum ETF. According to Farside, on May 8, the spot Ethereum ETF experienced outflows for the third consecutive day, totaling $16.1 million.

At the same time, with the surge of Bitcoin, the prices and market sentiment of the entire cryptocurrency market have also risen. In the past 24 hours, the entire cryptocurrency market has surged by 4.95%, and the Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index has further moved towards the "Greed" zone, rising by 8 points to reach 73.