Ethereum

On 18 January 2026 at 19:49, data from Santiment indicated that Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake deposit contract holds about 77.85 million ETH, valued at just over $256 billion. That equals roughly 46.6% of supply, with withdrawals gated by protocol exit limits. The scale has intensified debate over long-term supply stability versus potential exit-driven pressures.

Ethereum has recently seen its daily on-chain transactions climb to around 2.8 million, marking a new all-time high and coming in about 64% above the peak activity of the 2021 bull run. At the same time, technical analysis on the three-week chart suggests ETH remains in a macro uptrend, with its market capitalization holding above the 21 EMA and compressing under historical resistance. This combination of record network usage and constructive market structure points toward a higher probability of continued upside, while still leaving room for a potential deeper correction if key support fails.

On 18 January 2026, analysis by Joao Wedson found Ethereum's correlation with the Russell 2000 has weakened after several cycles of alignment. Despite the index's positive year-over-year performance, ETH's reactions are muted. The split may reflect a shifting risk regime or crypto pricing future conditions ahead of traditional finance.

On 18 January 2026, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that growing protocol complexity is a major long-term threat to the network's decentralization. He argued that constant feature additions and reliance on highly specialized cryptography can make users dependent on a small expert class instead of the code itself. Buterin called for an explicit focus on simplification, including removing or offloading rarely used features from the core protocol to preserve Ethereum's trustlessness over decades.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned in an X post that years of protocol complexity and bloat are undermining trustlessness and self-sovereignty. He advocated pruning underused features and slimming core components to restore simplicity, setting 2026 as a year to "take back lost ground."

Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake deposit contract holds 77.85 million ETH, representing 46.59% of supply and nearly $256 billion. The staked balance rose 38.4% year over year, easing near-term sell pressure while exit dynamics still pose volatility risk. Active validators climbed to roughly 977,000–1.04 million, up from about 890,000 at end-2023.

In a Sunday post on X, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin urged adding a "garbage collection" function to cut protocol bloat stemming from perpetual backward compatibility. He warned that excessive code and complex cryptography weaken trustlessness and self-sovereignty. His proposal targets fewer lines of code, reduced reliance on advanced primitives, and more invariants.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that crypto hacks and scams collectively drained more than $4.04 billion in 2025, with $2.67 billion attributed to hacks and $1.37 billion to scams. Fraud-related losses increased about 64% year over year, driven by highly targeted phishing and impersonation campaigns aimed at high-value users, while major incidents such as Bybit's $1.51 billion breach underscored growing pressure on centralized platforms.

On January 17, 2026, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko argued the chain's survival depends on continuous iteration, countering Vitalik Buterin's January 12 call for optional protocol ossification. He emphasized decentralized, developer-driven upgrades and disciplined governance. Recent metrics show 2.4 million daily active addresses (+5.64%) and $11.80 billion in DeFi TVL (+6.98%) amid a broader liquidity reset.

Between January 12 and January 16, 2026, BlackRock directed substantial capital into Bitcoin and Ethereum via its spot ETFs, with IBIT logging roughly $1.04 billion and ETHA about $219 million. Combined exposure reached about $1.25 billion for the week, while Bitcoin stood at $95,093 and Ethereum at $3,309 at press time.