Ethereum Surges 2.81% as Golden Cross Signals Bullish Momentum

Ethereum's latest price was $2516.95, up 2.819% in the last 24 hours. This surge has shifted user sentiment towards a bullish outlook, despite a recent retracement. Ethereum remains above a crucial support level, and many users expect the bullish momentum to continue in the coming weeks. Technical analysts are also paying close attention to Ethereum's price movements, as the cryptocurrency has recently confirmed a Golden Cross on its 12-hour chart. This bullish pattern occurs when the 50-period moving average crosses above the 200-period moving average, and it is often seen as a precursor to major bullish moves. If bulls can hold current levels and reclaim higher resistance, the Golden Cross could become a turning point for Ethereum's price.

However, Ethereum's recent volatility has sparked renewed uncertainty among analysts. The cryptocurrency saw sharp price movements over the weekend, surging past $2,550 before rapidly reversing and falling back into the $2,400 zone within hours. This sudden move has left many analysts cautious about the fading bullish momentum and rising selling pressure. While Ethereum remains one of the stronger performers in the broader altcoin market, it is still down from its December high, leaving bulls with a clear challenge: hold current levels and regain control by pushing prices above $2,800 to ignite a sustained rally.

The $2,400 level is now acting as a critical support zone for Ethereum. A break below it could trigger a deeper retracement, likely dragging the cryptocurrency into a consolidation range or even toward lower support levels. However, technical signals offer a glimmer of hope. According to analyst Ted Pillows, Ethereum recently confirmed a Golden Cross on the 12-hour chart, which historically has preceded strong upside moves. Pillows believes this signal could pave the way for Ethereum to reach $3,000 in the near term. However, for that to happen, buyers must step in decisively. Volume has tapered off, and sentiment appears fragile after last week’s breakdown. If bulls can defend the $2,400 region and reclaim higher resistance quickly, the Golden Cross might mark the beginning of Ethereum’s next leg up.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled a roadmap for solving Ethereum's L1 scaling problems by increasing gas limits, including a new concept of nodes with limited network state storage (stateless nodes). The most common objection to increasing the L1 gas limit, besides concerns about network security, is that it makes it harder to run a full node. Buterin suggests that running a full node is valuable because it provides users with a "secure, censorship-resistant and confidential way" to access the blockchain. To scale the L1 gas limit without sacrificing full node operation, Buterin suggested short-term priorities that include implementing EIP-4444. This protocol limits nodes to storing historical data only for the last 36 days, which reduces disk space requirements for network participants. Right now, running a full Ethereum node requires storing the entire state of the blockchain (about 1 TB for state, about 500 GB for history). EIP-4444 will offload historical data storage, making nodes lighter. Buterin's other short-term proposals include creating a distributed solution for storing historical data and adjusting gas prices to make storage more expensive and execution cheaper. Buterin's roadmap defines stateless nodes as a medium-term change that could allow nodes to interact with the blockchain without maintaining the Merkle branches used to check data integrity. According to Buterin, this could reduce storage needs by about 50%, making it much easier for nodes to operate. The technological solutions presented could have a significant impact on Ethereum's scaling prospects.