Ethereum

Coinbase plans to migrate Base onto a unified, internally managed software stack that replaces its prior dependence on Optimism's core technology and external tooling. The move will let Base package its own client binary, target up to six hard forks per year, and introduce Base-specific governance, security council signers, and fee systems. As Base gains more control over upgrades and infrastructure, Optimism faces reduced influence over one of its largest Layer 2 ecosystem partners.

On Monday, market analyst Crypto Patel said on X that Ethereum sits just below $2,000 at a key decision zone, with $1,800 the critical support. He cited two failed bullish patterns that flipped $3,100–$3,500 into resistance. A hold above $1,800 could target $2,650, while a break lower may expose $1,300.

Solana's SOL is hovering near a fragile $78 area after failing to reclaim $89 over the past two weeks and marking a $67.60 low on Feb. 6. Futures positioning has thinned, with open interest down 75% from a $13.5 billion peak and bears paying about 20% annualized to keep shorts open. Onchain, weekly dApp revenue fell to $22.8 million, the lowest since October 2024.

Crypto analyst Javon Marks expects Shiba Inu could climb more than 400% to about $0.000035, citing a bullish RSI divergence while the token trades near $0.00000632. He also targets Ethereum at roughly $4,900, arguing that ETH’s price trajectory will be crucial for SHIB’s recovery, even as separate models project much milder SHIB gains through 2026.

Societe Generale's SG-FORGE has deployed its euro-denominated stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible, on the XRP Ledger, marking its third public blockchain, according to a Wednesday announcement. Ripple's custody support may enable future integration into Ripple products, and about 70.51 million tokens are currently in circulation. The asset is backed 1:1 by bank cash deposits or high-quality securities.

Ethereum has entered a choppy consolidation phase after an aggressive drop toward the $1.8K area, with price now caught between a key static support and the midline of a descending channel. On lower timeframes, ETH is forming a triangle pattern against descending resistance and rising support, pointing to an imminent breakout that could either reclaim higher resistance near $2.4K or confirm continuation of the broader downside trend. Liquidation heatmaps indicate dense short liquidity above and growing long liquidity below, increasing the odds of a sharp volatility expansion once price escapes the current range.

Peter Thiel has exited ETHZilla, cutting his roughly 7.5% position to 0% by the end of 2025, according to an SEC filing. In December 2025, ETHZilla sold 24,291 ETH for $74.5 million to repay debt and pivot toward real-world asset tokenization, after which its stock fell 8.7% to $6.30 and Pomerantz LLP opened a securities probe.

On February 18, 2026, the full exit of Founders Fund from ETHZilla was confirmed. ETHZilla shares traded near $3.20 in premarket, almost 7% lower and 97% below the $107 peak. The firm sold $40 million in ETH for buybacks and $74.5 million to manage debt, and is shifting toward tokenized real‑world assets.

On February 18, data attributed to Santiment showed Ethereum's proof-of-stake deposit contract holding over 80.9 million ETH, crossing the halfway mark of the network's historical issuance under a specific calculation method. The contract works as a one-way vault where staked ETH is locked to help secure the network and can only be released through validator exits and new issuance. Analysts highlight that the "50%" figure is based on historical supply and does not necessarily mean half of the currently circulating ETH is staked.

BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) aims to keep 70% to 95% of its ETH staked under normal conditions, while maintaining a 5% to 30% unstaked liquidity sleeve for creations, redemptions, and expenses. The fund's filing outlines that 18% of gross staking rewards will go toward fees shared by the sponsor, Coinbase as prime execution agent, and staking providers, and notes that validator activation and exit queues on Ethereum can delay both reward generation and withdrawals for weeks or longer during congestion.