• Support and resistance: ETH holds $2,823 support, faces key resistance at $3,500 and $3,750.
• Whale activity: $426 million in long positions show strong conviction from large holders.
• Network upgrades: Fusaka upgrade and rising adoption boost throughput, reduce fees, and support bullish momentum.

Ethereum — ETH, surged to $3,201 after breaking above a falling wedge that had capped price action since July. Buyers defended critical support zones, signaling a possible shift in momentum. Trading volume spiked during the breakout, confirming strong participation. With whales opening massive long positions, the market shows growing conviction. Investors now watch key levels as ETH attempts to sustain gains while broader adoption and network upgrades continue driving activity.

Technical Setup Shows Strength

The falling wedge pattern forced lower highs and lower lows until buyers pushed price above the upper trendline. Support has formed at $2,823, marking a crucial retest zone. Buyers have successfully held this level through multiple tests, keeping weakness in check. A daily close below this area could signal potential retracement, so traders remain cautious. Resistance now appears at $3,500. Previous rallies stalled near this zone, creating a critical barrier.

Breaking above $3,500 could open the path to $3,750 and eventually $4,000. Traders look for daily closes above these levels to confirm upward momentum. Technical indicators support the bullish setup. Parabolic SAR dots sit below price candles, indicating continued upside momentum. MACD shows the line above the signal line with green histogram bars, suggesting buyers dominate near-term action. RSI on weekly charts sits at 31, signaling oversold conditions often followed by renewed buying interest.

Whale Activity and Network Upgrades Boost Confidence

Whales opened $426 million in ETH long positions following the wedge breakout. Futures open interest jumped $512 million overnight, showing new capital entering the market. Large holders help absorb selling pressure, reducing the chance of sharp pullbacks. Institutional participation grows, with BlackRock filing for a staked ETH ETF that could hold 70 to 90 percent of assets in Coinbase Custody and Anchorage Digital.

The Fusaka upgrade, launched in November 2025, increased data blob capacity from 6 to 48 per block. This boost scales network throughput to handle up to 100,000 transactions per second and reduces Layer-2 fees. Higher capacity could attract developers and new users, expanding network activity and creating more opportunities for ETH burns through transaction fees. Stablecoin volume hit $2.82 trillion in October, showing strong transactional demand on Ethereum.

Daily active addresses climbed to 1.2 million, a 12 percent increase over the past week. Growing network usage signals a healthy ecosystem supporting long-term adoption. ETH trades with a market cap near $380 billion, highlighting the token’s strong position in the crypto space. Institutional holdings total $13 billion, further solidifying confidence. With technical momentum, whale positioning, and network upgrades aligned, Ethereum could continue its recovery.