Ethereum (ETH) sees major uptick as Pectra upgrade goes live

• The Ethereum stake limit has been raised to 2,048 ETH per validator as the Pectra upgrade goes live.
• ETH price has jumped 7.3% to $1,966.
• Historical May strength and undervaluation signal potential rebound.

Ethereum (ETH) has rallied sharply in the hours following the launch of its Pectra upgrade, marking the cryptocurrency’s strongest single-day gain in months.

Ethereum validator transformation with Pectra upgrade

The Pectra upgrade, activated on May 7, introduces a maximum stake limit increase to 2,048 ETH per validator, streamlining operations by reducing the need for multiple node setups.

By allowing validators to stake larger sums in a single account, Ethereum hopes to attract institutional participants and simplify the reward compounding process for networks of all sizes.

This major staking enhancement comes alongside eleven targeted Ethereum Improvement Proposals designed to reinforce network stability, scalability, and developer flexibility within decentralized applications.

Tim Beiko, overseeing core protocol meetings, described Pectra as the second-largest upgrade after the Merge, highlighting its potential to redefine staking economics and validator efficiency across the ecosystem.

Account abstraction, a standout feature of Pectra, enables users to pay transaction fees with tokens beyond ETH, promising greater user convenience but also introducing new security considerations.

Threat researcher Vladimir S. has cautioned users to verify message sources diligently and utilise wallets with advanced protections when interacting with account abstraction to prevent malicious contract exploits.

Ethereum’s development team emphasised a 24-hour monitoring period post-activation to identify and address any issues swiftly, reflecting a proactive stance on network safety and reliability.

Following the Dencun upgrade, which reduced Layer-2 costs, Pectra further cements Ethereum’s commitment to continuous improvement by tackling both infrastructural and user-facing challenges.

As validators begin to configure automatic reward compounding under the new limit, smaller stakeholders may benefit from seamless yield optimisation previously available only to larger operations.

The refined staking architecture under Pectra could lead to a more decentralised distribution of validating power, potentially mitigating concentration risks that have concerned community members.

Ethereum (ETH) price outlook

Data from Coinglass indicates that Ethereum has delivered an average return of nearly 28% in May since 2016, bolstering optimism that this month could reverse a five-month underperformance streak.

CryptoQuant’s valuation metrics highlight that ETH currently appears extremely undervalued compared to BTC, suggesting that market forces could soon realign the pair if demand picks up.

ETH is now extremely undervalued compared to BTC, the first time since 2019.

Historically, this led to Ethereum outperforming.

However, supply pressure, weak demand, and flat activity could stall a rebound. pic.twitter.com/QqU2Xh3vo9

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) May 8, 2025

In the hours following the Pectra rollout, Ethereum has surged by 7.3%, reaching $1,966.11 and pushing its market cap above $237 billion amid elevated trading volumes exceeding $58 billion.

With Bitcoin dominance hovering near 63.9%, altcoin investors view the upgrade as a rare catalyst that could shift momentum back toward Ethereum and other Layer-1 networks.

Tracy Jin, COO of MEXC, has described Pectra as an opportunity to “flip the script in favour of altcoins,” underlining the market’s appetite for substantial protocol improvements.

Despite near-term upside, some analysts warn that supply pressure and flat on-chain activity could temper any rally if sustained demand fails to materialise over the coming weeks.

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