Ethereum price as the year 2026 begins has rallied past $3,100, marking a strong recovery. The 5% gain pushed ETH to $3,122, its highest level in weeks.
This increase was after the release of a new scaling roadmap by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin with a 2026 target. The wider crypto market was also up 3.06% as memecoin rallies and better technicals drove the gain.
Bitcoin is hovering at the top of 90,000 following its recent breakout. Other major altcoins such as XRP, Solana, Cardano and Dogecoin have recovered as well. The bullish trend could indicate a revived confidence of the investors since Ethereum is about to undergo its next upgrade.
Ethereum Holds Key Accumulation Support Level
Ethereum ($ETH) is trading almost at a vital support zone based on the accumulation addresses realized prices. This measure indicates the mean value of long-term buyers who purchased ETH.
Traditionally, ETH has oscillated above this mark in market corrections. This zone is now considered by analysts to be one of the primary supports at the start of the trading in 2026.
Vitalik Buterin Unveils Roadmap for Ethereum 2026
Vitalik Buterin began 2026 by sharing Ethereum’s development priorities for the year, emphasizing the network’s core mission of decentralization.
He recognized some of the most important milestones in 2025 such as increased gas limits, software improvements in nodes, and significant improvements in zkEVM.
With these changes coupled with PeerDAS, Ethereum was in a position to become a more robust blockchain. Buterin had cautioned, however, that technical advances will not suffice.
Welcome to 2026! Milady is back.
Ethereum did a lot in 2025: gas limits increased, blob count increased, node software quality improved, zkEVMs blasted through their performance milestones, and with zkEVMs and PeerDAS ethereum made its largest step toward being a fundamentally…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 1, 2026
Instead, he explained that Ethereum needed to remain committed to its original mission, which is to become the decentralized version of the so-called world computer that enables a freer and open internet.
He described the necessity of applications that are not centrally controlled or censored apps that remain operational even when the creators have vanishing acts or the megafinance collapses.
These systems, he pointed out, should be stable even when there is an external shock, political, ideological, or corporate.
To achieve this vision of Ethereum, both protocol and application-level enhancements are needed. He challenged the community to implement the existing tools and work towards more usability and decentralization in 2026.
Is Ethereum Price Headed for $3,500?
As of the latest update, the ETH price climbed to $3,116.50 after surging past the $3,000 psychological mark.
The MACD line has already overtaken the signal line and is moving further away, indicating an increasing number of bullish momentum. The histogram bars are also increasing, which depict more buyer confidence.
In the meantime, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 78, which positions ETH in the overbought zone.
If the Long-term Ethereum prediction surpasses $3,300 in heavy volume, the subsequent bullish price would probably be $3,500.
On the other hand, when the Ethereum price falls below the rising channel, then the highest level of support will be the first level of the price at $3,000. The fall below $3,000 would leave some room to retest the $2,800 zone.
