Ethereum

On 20 February 2026, the Ethereum Foundation outlined a shift to two network upgrades per year, beginning in 2026. The plan prioritizes scaling, improved user experience, and stronger L1 security, with a gas limit target of 100M+ and named upgrades Glamsterdam in H1 and Hegotá in H2.

According to CryptoQuant, Ethereum derivatives have seen sharp deleveraging, with aggregate open interest sliding from $33.3 billion to about $11 billion, a 66% decline. CoinGlass also tracked roughly $189 million in 24‑hour liquidations as price moved toward $1,900, while exchange balances reached a multi‑year low of 16.1 million ETH.

About 30,600 Bitcoin options with roughly $2 billion notional are expiring on Friday, Feb. 20. Coinglass places max pain near $70,000 and Deribit cites a 0.59 put/call ratio; another 212,000 Ethereum contracts worth about $404 million also roll off. Spot markets remain range-bound, with Bitcoin near $67,290 after a $65,700 weekly low.

Altcoin momentum has improved, yet multiple market signals indicate a broad altcoin season has not started. BTC dominance remains under a key threshold while ETH/BTC’s rebound has not shifted the larger trend, and recent exchange activity indicates capital still leans toward Bitcoin rather than Ethereum and other large-cap networks.

Ethereum price recently slipped below $1,950 and then rebounded from support near $1,905, with the recovery capped under $1,980. ETH is now moving below the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average and facing resistance around $1,985 and the $2,000 level. A break above $2,000 could open the way toward $2,050, while failure to clear $1,985 may trigger another drop toward $1,880 or even $1,840.

Bitcoin developer Matt Carallo told the Unchained podcast on Thursday that quantum-computing fears are not behind Bitcoin's latest slide, arguing Ether would be outperforming if they were. He noted Ether is down 58% since early October and around $1,957, while Bitcoin has fallen 46% from its October high of $126,100 to about $67,162.

Ethereum slipped firmly below $2,100, shifting short-term momentum to the downside. The $2,300–$2,100 daily band has turned into resistance after failed reclaim attempts, with $1,700–$1,500 highlighted as the next support area. A higher timeframe fractal points to potential upside if price compresses and then breaks above the current range.

Vitalik Buterin set 2026 as a target to reclaim computing self-sovereignty, detailing moves to privacy tools and trials of running language models on a personal laptop. The article argues local-only hosting cannot meet training and persistent inference needs at scale, and instead points to decentralized compute networks as a way to combine independence with elastic capacity.

On February 19, 2026, Standard Chartered lowered its end-2026 price target for XRP to $2.80 from $8 and left its 2030 projection at $28. The bank also pared targets for Bitcoin to $100,000, Ethereum to $4,000, and Solana to $135 amid short-term market pressures.

On February 18, the Ethereum Foundation outlined its 2026 protocol priorities spanning scaling, user experience, and Layer 1 resilience. The plan targets pushing the gas limit toward and beyond 100 million and advancing blob capacity for rollups, proposer–builder separation, and a zkEVM attester client. Major changes are associated with upcoming forks such as Glamsterdam.