V God once said, "Ethereum will surprise everyone." This is not just simple morale boosting, but backed by hardware support.

By 2025, Ethereum has long shed the label of "experimental network." Today, it has become the infrastructure relied upon by Wall Street institutions and global developers. Data speaks the loudest—energy consumption has decreased by 99.95%, Layer2 data capacity has increased eightfold, and staking yields are as stable as digital bonds. These changes may seem behind the scenes, but they are quietly transforming the industry landscape.

Specifically, technological advancements are substantial. The Pectra upgrade in May and the Fusaka upgrade in December not only promoted the full application of account abstraction, but PeerDAS technology also directly increased Layer2 throughput by 8 times. Optimization of transaction costs and speeds triggers a chain reaction—these are real and happening. In the ecosystem, the total value locked in DeFi has surged to $94 billion, hitting a new high since 2022. You see, capital is flowing back. The total value locked in Layer2 has also reached $35.7 billion, even surpassing the mainnet in trading volume. What lies behind these numbers? It’s the votes of developers and the confidence of users.

More importantly, institutional money is entering in earnest. Major players like JPMorgan and BlackRock are issuing tokenized funds on the Ethereum mainnet. The total supply of stablecoins has surpassed $300 billion, with 54% of that sitting on Ethereum. U.S. regulators have also made clear statements: "Ethereum is not a security." How significant is this statement? It means the risk bottom line has been clearly defined.

But here’s an interesting paradox: Ethereum network wins, yet ETH’s price has not soared in tandem. Why? It may be precisely because the perception gap still exists. When this gap is bridged, the level of "surprise" could far exceed current market expectations.

Ethereum is no longer just a coin; it is becoming the settlement layer for open finance, the core infrastructure of the AI economy, and even an interest-bearing asset on corporate balance sheets. Through ETFs and corporate treasuries, traditional finance is holding ETH at scale in a compliant manner. Once Lightning Network, sharding technology, and account abstraction are fully synchronized, this paradigm shift driven by code will demonstrate its power. Instead of speculating on short-term price movements, it’s better to focus on these substantive changes.