Ethereum Surges 1.7% to $1,600 on Whale Activity and Buterin's Proposal

Ethereum (ETH) has surged past the $1,600 mark, marking a 1.7% gain over the past 24 hours. This price movement coincides with significant activity from large investors and a groundbreaking proposal from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin aimed at enhancing the network's scalability.

ETH has shown resilience, maintaining stability above the $1,500 support level and breaking through key resistance points at $1,550 and $1,600. Technical analysis indicates that Ethereum has broken above a bearish trend line with resistance at $1,590 on the hourly chart, forming a high at $1,644 and trading above the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. The price is currently stable above the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level of the upward move from the $1,566 swing low to the $1,644 high.

Buterin's proposal involves replacing the existing Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) with the RISC-V instruction set architecture. This change aims to increase the speed and efficiency of Ethereum’s execution layer while preserving the fundamental account and storage concepts of the blockchain. Buterin highlighted several long-term hurdles impeding Ethereum’s scalability, including zero-knowledge EVM proving, competitive block production, and reliable data availability sampling. The RISC-V implementation could offer efficiency increases of up to 100x, particularly by maximizing zero-knowledge functions for the execution layer.

Whale activity has also played a significant role in Ethereum's recent price movement. A prominent whale withdrew 1,897 ETH (approximately $3 million) from the Bitget exchange, part of a larger accumulation pattern totaling 3,844 ETH ($6.51 million) since April 3. This massive accumulation by whales typically indicates confidence in the future value of an asset and can substantially influence market dynamics. Following the withdrawal, Ethereum’s trading volume increased noticeably across major trading pairs, often viewed as a bullish signal.

Despite the price recovery, Ethereum’s network metrics present a mixed picture. Blob fees from layer-2 scaling networks fell to a weekly low of 3.18 ETH (about $5,000) on March 30. Ethereum network fees dropped to their lowest level since 2020 in April 2025, with an average transaction value of about $0.16. This substantial drop in fees reflects fewer users making transactions on the Ethereum base layer, with many choosing layer-2 scaling solutions instead. While these solutions have effectively reduced transaction costs, they have also “cannibalized” income on the base layer, raising questions about Ethereum’s long-term value proposition.

The market is closely observing both technical breakouts and the approaching key $1,700 level, as Buterin’s groundbreaking proposal could potentially change Ethereum’s competitive position versus high-throughput rivals. Traders should monitor the $1,680 level as the first major resistance. A clear move above this could send the price toward $1,720 or even $1,800 in the near term. If the upward momentum continues, Ethereum could surge toward $1,840, according to technical analysts watching the cryptocurrency’s recent price action.