**Ethereum’s Strong Comeback: What’s Powering the Surge and Can It Last?**

Ethereum has made a massive turnaround in the past six months. Back in March, ETH was trading around $2,000 while Bitcoin soared near $80,000. Many thought Ethereum was losing momentum in the crypto space. Fast forward to today—ETH is now trading above $4,300, and its value relative to Bitcoin (ETH/BTC ratio) has jumped by 80%, moving from 0.20 to 0.36. This signals that investor confidence in Ethereum is back and stronger than ever.

Two major forces are behind this rally: big companies buying and using ETH through Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs), and the approval of stablecoin regulation in the United States. But this raises a big question: can these factors alone keep Ethereum’s momentum going? And more importantly, is Ethereum’s tech ready for more users and bigger transaction volumes?

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**Corporate Interest in Ethereum Is Growing**

More companies are now adding Ethereum to their balance sheets. Public firms like BitMine Immersion Technologies and SharpLink Gaming are following Bitcoin’s playbook—buying ETH as a long-term asset. But unlike Bitcoin holders such as MicroStrategy, these companies are doing more than just holding. They’re actively staking ETH or using it in DeFi protocols to earn returns.

This approach turns DATs into active investment tools rather than just storage of value. For example, putting ETH into a lending platform or staking it with a validator involves different risks and rewards. These choices affect how well each company performs, making DATs more complex than just buying and holding.

Right now, companies hold about 5.66 million ETH, which is nearly 4.7% of all ETH in existence. Spot Ethereum ETFs hold even more—around 6.81 million ETH or about 5.6% of total supply.

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**How Digital Asset Treasuries Work**

DATs usually trade at a premium over the value of the ETH they hold. This is measured using the multiple-of-net-asset-value (mNAV). Investors pay extra because they believe these companies will earn more from ETH through staking or DeFi strategies.

But this model depends on ETH prices staying high. If ETH drops, that premium shrinks, and companies can’t raise new capital by issuing shares. If mNAV drops below 1, raising funds becomes tough. Companies may then have to sell ETH or buy back shares—moves that could hurt ETH prices further. If these firms have debts or need cash for operations, they might be forced to sell even more ETH, putting more downward pressure on the market.

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**Staking to Earn Yield**

To manage risk and create income, many companies are now staking their ETH with validators. This earns them rewards—currently about 3% annually—from helping secure the network and processing transactions.

Since late 2024, staking yields have dropped as more ETH has been staked, but interest hasn’t faded. Grayscale recently added staking options to its Ethereum ETFs, allowing investors to earn rewards either as cash payouts or reinvested tokens. This bridges traditional finance with crypto-native income streams.

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**Network Growth Shows Real-World Demand**

Ethereum’s technical performance is also improving. Daily transactions have surged past 1.5 million—higher than the previous record set in May 2021. Stablecoin transfers alone topped $60 billion in a single day in September 2025, showing real usage from both everyday users and institutions.

Ethereum’s ability to handle this growth comes from smart scaling solutions. Layer-2 networks like Arbitrum and Optimism now push large amounts of data (called blobs) to Ethereum’s base layer. This allows faster and cheaper transactions without slowing down the main network.

A recent upgrade called Pectra raised the amount of blob data allowed per block. This boosted transaction capacity and lowered costs for everyone, especially on Layer-2 platforms.

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**Ethereum Leads in Stablecoins—But Faces New Competition**

Stablecoins are driving much of Ethereum’s transaction growth. Around 65% of all stablecoins live on Ethereum, making it the top blockchain for transferring dollar-pegged digital assets. U.S. regulations like the GENIUS Act are boosting stablecoin adoption by making them safer and more accepted.

But Ethereum isn’t alone anymore. New blockchains built just for stablecoins—like Plasma—and others offering lower fees are starting to gain ground. While Ethereum fees have come down, they’re still higher than many alternatives, making it less appealing for small, frequent transfers.

Layer-2s help by offering lower fees and faster speeds, but not all economic value flows back to Ethereum’s base layer when users transact there.

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**Upcoming Fusaka Upgrade Could Be a Game-Changer**

To tackle these scaling issues head-on, Ethereum developers are planning the Fusaka upgrade for December 3, 2025. Its key feature—PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling)—will let validators check data more efficiently by sampling instead of downloading entire datasets.

This reduces costs for validators and speeds up data processing—a critical improvement as blob usage expands across Layer-2 platforms.

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**Conclusion: Is Ethereum’s Momentum Built to Last?**

Ethereum is clearly back on investors’ radar. The current rally is fueled by strong corporate interest through DATs and growing use of stablecoins on its network. However, challenges remain—especially around scaling stablecoin transactions efficiently and keeping transaction fees low.

Still, Ethereum is showing real signs of strength: rising transaction volumes, smart upgrades like Pectra and Fusaka, and a solid move into yield generation through staking. Layer-2 networks are handling more activity without overloading the base chain.

Whether Ethereum’s price continues to rise depends on two key things: if corporate treasuries keep accumulating ETH, and if developers can maintain Ethereum’s lead as the go-to platform for stablecoins. With major upgrades on the way, Ethereum is building a solid foundation—but its long-term success will depend on how well tech improvements align with market needs.