How Pectra and international developments shaped the Ethereum price
Trump's new import tariffs crashed Ethereum's price in april
April 2025 started positively for Ethereum: the ecosystem regained its leadership in daily trading volume within the decentralized finance (DeFi) market, surpassing Solana — $64.6 billion versus $52.6 billion. Approximately half of this volume ($30 billion) came from Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Despite record trading volumes, Ethereum's price trend turned negative in the very first week, as ETH plummeted by about one-third in less than seven days — from $ 1,827 to a yearly low of $ 1,415. This drop followed a stock market crash after U.S. President Donald Trump announced new import tariffs on several countries.
Amid the correction of the leading altcoin, analysts from Standard Chartered downgraded their 2025 Ethereum price forecast from $10,000 to $4,000.
Experts at CryptoQuant noted that the primary reason for Ethereum's price decline was a reduction in on-chain activity. This is due to a growing share of transactions now taking place on Layer 2 (L2) solutions rather than the main blockchain.
Additionally, the price drop was influenced by capital outflows from spot Ethereum ETFs, which totaled around $6 billion over the past month.
Furthermore, since December 2024, the total value locked (TVL) in the Ethereum ecosystem has dropped by 43% — from $86.6 billion to $49.3 billion. This also indicates capital outflows from Ethereum's decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.
Ethereum (ETH) recovery: price resumes growth after the crash
Immediately after hitting a local bottom, Ethereum's price resumed its growth, returning to $1845 by early May — a 30% rebound. This occurred after Trump postponed the decision on foreign trade tariffs until July 2025.
Positive ETH momentum was further boosted by news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved the launch of options trading for spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Major investment firms, including BlackRock, Grayscale, and Bitwise, had previously submitted applications for such options. Trading is scheduled to begin by the end of July.
Pectra upgrade and the Ethereum price
On May 7, the Ethereum network activated the Pectra upgrade, which is the most extensive in terms of included proposals (EIPs) — totaling 11.
Following the launch of Pectra, Ethereum's price surged nearly 48% — from $ 1,811 to $ 2,680. Analysts also attribute this jump to a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement under which Trump reduced tariffs on certain British goods.
Following this sharp rise, Ethereum's price stabilized and fluctuated between $2,400 and $2,700 throughout May and June. Today, the ETH exchange rate stands at $2485, with a market capitalization of $300 billion. Since the beginning of the year, the price of the leading altcoin has grown by more than 75% amid positive news, economic data, and network upgrades.