#2026年比特币价格展望 The Ethereum crisis has truly arrived—A critical reckoning in 2026

Honestly, I’m tired of these ETH believers’ arguments. Every time doubts are raised, they are bombarded with "faith," "long-term," "decentralization." But the problem is, the market never changes its course just because of a statement of faith.

Let’s focus on what is actually happening:

**L2 independence is eroding the value of the mainnet**

Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum and Base should be the veins of the Ethereum ecosystem. But now? They are going independent, ecosystem projects are rushing to migrate, and transaction fees are dropping significantly. Sounds like a good thing—users save money. But at what cost? The mainnet’s Gas fees are collapsing, token burn mechanisms are virtually ineffective, and inflationary pressures are beginning to surface. Ethereum has shifted from a traffic hub to a toll collector. This kind of value capture capability is hardly worth mentioning in the overall public chain competition landscape.

**Performance benchmarks have already lost a round**

Talking about Ethereum’s TPS in 2026 is like praising Nokia’s durability in 2010. The experience on Solana and Monad is approaching the smoothness of Web2 applications. And what about Ethereum? Complex cross-chain protocols, multi-layer verification mechanisms… Why should users endure minutes of confirmation wait and cross-chain risks? This isn’t a victory for decentralization; it’s a failure of user experience.

**Institutional flow is already changing**

Don’t hold onto the illusion that "the next bull market will save us." Smart institutional funds have already reallocated—intersecting AI and Crypto, the explosive potential of high-performance new public chains. These are the directions for profit. ETH is stuck in an awkward position: it lacks the hedging value of BTC, and it doesn’t have the growth imagination of new public chains.

**The bottom line is very close**

What currently supports ETH’s price is, frankly, inertia and liquidity. Once market sentiment shifts, once the last bit of confidence from developers and users wavers, the panic selling will be so fast you won’t be able to react. The once "world computer" is turning into a network trapped by its own complexity and changing market position.

This is not alarmist talk; it’s the reality right in front of us.