ETH Surges 20%, Biggest Gain Since 2021 as Pectra Upgrade Helps Restore 'Confidence'

BTC $ 102,780.98 + 4.21 % ETH $ 2,199.75 + 19.62 % USDT $ 0.9999 - 0.03 % XRP $ 2.3042 + 6.50 % BNB $ 624.18 + 2.92 % SOL $ 162.48 + 8.70 % USDC $ 1.0001 - 0.01 % DOGE $ 0.1951 + 10.46 % ADA $ 0.7714 + 10.84 % TRX $ 0.2558 + 2.95 % SUI $ 3.9703 + 12.84 % LINK $ 15.84 + 11.15 % AVAX $ 22.35 + 12.07 % XLM $ 0.2940 + 10.55 % SHIB $ 0.0₄1436 + 10.60 % BCH $ 419.21 + 4.25 % HBAR $ 0.1946 + 8.55 % LEO $ 8.8621 + 0.43 % TON $ 3.1996 + 5.57 % HYPE $ 23.22 + 9.23 % News Back to menu News Markets Finance Tech Policy Focus Prices Back to menu Prices Data Back to menu Data Trade Data Derivatives Order Book Data On-Chain Data API Research & Insights Data Catalogue AI & Machine Learning Indices Back to menu Indices Multi-Asset Indices Reference Rates Strategies and Services API Insights & Announcements Documentation & Governance Research Back to menu Research Consensus Back to menu Consensus Consensus 2025 Consensus 2025 Coverage Sponsored Back to menu Sponsored Thought Leadership Press Releases CoinW MEXC Phemex Advertise Videos Back to menu Videos CoinDesk Daily Shorts Editor's Picks Podcasts Back to menu Podcasts CoinDesk Podcast Network Markets Daily Gen C Unchained with Laura Shin The Mining Pod Newsletters Back to menu Newsletters The Node Crypto Daybook Americas State of Crypto Crypto Long & Short Crypto for Advisors Webinars & Events Back to menu Webinars & Events Consensus 2025 Policy & Regulation Conference English Select Language English en Español es Filipino fil Français fr Italiano it Português pt-br Русский ru Українська uk News Prices Data Indices Research Consensus Sponsored Sign In Sign Up Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email ETH Surges 20%, Biggest Gain Since 2021 as Pectra Upgrade Helps Restore 'Confidence' ETH outperforms CoinDesk 20 Index, as bulls comes back while BTC surges above $100k. By Sam Reynolds | Edited by Aoyon Ashraf May 9, 2025, 1:51 a.m. What to know : Ethereum's Pectra upgrade has led to a nearly 20% increase in ETH, trading above $2,100. The upgrade raises the staking limit and improves wallet usability, among other enhancements. Despite the rally, weak network activity suggests a full recovery to previous highs is not imminent. Ethereum's ether ETH $ 2,202.49 led the market in early Asia hours as traders reacted favorably to the protocol's recent Pectra upgrade, sending the token up nearly 20%, the biggest gain since 2021, and trading above $2100 according to market data from CoinDesk . Story continues Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto for Advisors Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . (CoinDesk) The move comes amid a broader crypto market rally that coincided with bitcoin BTC $ 102,869.22 soaring past $100,000 for the first time in three months. Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, its most substantial overhaul since the 2022 Merge, represents a sweeping protocol hard fork, as CoinDesk previously reported . The upgrade consolidates validator operations by raising the staking limit from 32 to 2,048 ETH (via EIP-7251), advances wallet usability through account abstraction mechanisms allowing temporary smart contract functionality (via EIP-7702), and implements nine other Ethereum Improvement Proposals. "ETH is finally catching up after lagging behind BBTC for most of the year. While BTC is nearing its all-time high, ETH is still down nearly 50% from its 2024 peak," Ming Jung from Presto Research wrote to CoinDesk in a note. The Pectra upgrade, Jung said, "helped restore some confidence, and with ETHBTC down nearly 40% year-to-date at 0.02, it's not surprising to see buyers stepping in at these levels." In a recent research report, CryptoQuant wrote that weak network activity on the Ethereum blockchain, which hasn't grown since 2021, suggests that a recovery to prior highs isn't imminent despite the rally. In a market update, Flowdesk wrote that they see the crypto market broadly regaining momentum, with bitcoin passing $100K and a return to risk appetite, with investors shifting from caution to chasing higher-yield altcoins and structured products. "We're seeing a recycling of sell flow into higher-momentum plays, a shift from the caution that’s defined the last two months. While still below Q4 2024 levels, beta appetite is clearly building," Flowdesk wrote. March Zheng, General Partner of Bizantine Capital, told CoinDesk in a message that traders should remember that Ethereum has typically been the main on-chain altcoin indicator for risk-on, and its sizable upticks generally lead to broader altcoin rallies. Elsewhere in crypto, bitcoin (BTC) is trading above $102.5K as ETF inflow continues to be positive. In a recent note, Standard Chartered said that its second quarter target of $120,000 might be "too conservative. Other market observers consider current upside targets to be "too low." Meanwhile, the CoinDesk 20, a measure of the performance of the largest digital assets, is up over 10%. Read more: Breakout Alert: Ether, Bitcoin Cash-Bitcoin Ratio Break Downtrends as DOGE, SHIB Bottom Out ETH Ethereum Bitcoin Sam Reynolds Sam Reynolds is a senior reporter based in Asia. Sam was part of the CoinDesk team that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb award in the breaking news category for coverage of FTX's collapse. 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