The past years have been important for Ethereum as it has undergone updates on the roadmap that improved the blockchain considerably. The Merge, for example, was the first and most significant upgrade as it reworked the consensus mechanism from PoW to PoS, solving issues with sustainability, scalability, and speed.
However, that was only the beginning of Ethereum’s roadmap, as upgrades and hard forks are continuously deployed on the network. The Cancun update landed on the network this year, scaling the Layer 2 solution, and will be followed by Prague at the end of 2024, which will include a surprise element for users.
These updates increase Ethereum’s popularity but also contribute to price changes. The merger led to more liquidity and an eventual price boom, so considering the upcoming changes in the network, we could make an encouraging Ethereum price prediction 2025.
Let’s see what’s to come.
Osaka update coming in 2025
After launching Prague, the Osaka update will follow at the end of 2025. The hard fork is part of the Verge update and is expected to take one to two years to be successfully implemented. It aims to optimize data structures and stream the block verification process.
The Verge is essential to the blockchain because it eases the complexity of verifying blocks. The network’s decentralization and health improve if the process is widely approachable and more participants can become validators. Some of the goals of this update include the following:
- Adjust gas limits in accordance with new codes;
- Replace Merkle trees with Verkle trees;
- Introduce ZK-SNARK proofs;
- Increase gas limits on Layer 1;
Will the Ethereum price be affected?
Considering past events, we should expect the Ether price to be influenced by the update. At the same time, since gas prices reflect supply and demand, we might see shifting trends between the beginning and the end of the update since the limits will be adjusted.
Therefore, transaction costs might increase or decline, so miners should prepare beforehand by balancing their activities and investments so they’re not disadvantaged. Changes might also happen to nodes since the modification to Verkle trees might affect their income.
What follows?
So many updates are coming after the Verge, including forks and small fixtures. We should expect the following five to ten years to be full of challenges and transformations. The next update on the roadmap is the Purge, whose goal is to simplify the protocol and eliminate technical debt. This action will delete all old history, which takes up space on the network through the history expiration command (EIP-4444).
The Purge will most likely affect developers since Ethereum-based applications like dApps will receive the data update. They might be able to seek new network collaborators to leverage their skills outside the main protocol.
Finally, the Splurge is supposed to wrap things up and fix small details about the network whose priority was lower-ranked. Some of the aspects that the upgrade will address include the EVM, a few regular Ethereum protocols like EIP-1559, and the VDF hardware.
Still, many challenges are ahead
While these updates will solve some of Ethereum’s current problems, new ones arise. For example, liquid staking has been one of the most controversial aspects of the blockchain since it showed how massive pools can influence prices and investor strategy.
Lido is currently the most extensive pool, holding almost one-third of users staked Ether. It’s believed that its market share is extreme and stands against Ethereum’s decentralization concepts. Vitalik Buterin stated that such pools should boost user fees to decline Ether adoption, so they’re not at a considerable advantage compared to smaller pools.
At the same time, the massive decline of NFT interest slowed down the blockchain’s popularity as other new and better assets have come into play, such as ETFs. Fewer users participate in NFT trading due to market saturation. However, the drop is also significant as the economic environment expanded, with the SEC and other institutions approving Ethereum-based assets.
How can users protect their assets?
It might be possible for illicit actors to take advantage of vulnerabilities present during the update and steal Ether from investors. While the blockchain is pretty massive and well-maintained by nodes and validators, users should still be cautious of who they trust in these moments because it might be easy to be influenced by someone who’s a good manipulator.
Therefore, it’s best to do the following:
- Use only reputable exchanges with experience and a solid track record;
- Be wary of the latest regulatory compliance on cryptocurrencies;
- Maintain security practices like real-time monitoring and using multi-signature wallets;
- Approach cold storage that’s not connected to the internet;
Common crypto scams to avoid
Besides having the proper knowledge of protecting your assets, you should also be able to recognize scam attempts. For example, phishing scams are almost everywhere around us, and they’re easily trackable with a little bit of attention. Receiving an email that seems to come from a reliable business should raise some questions when you’re asked to provide your personal information to be the recipient of some form of incentive.
Pump and dump schemes are also typical when new tokens are released on the market as the team behind it carefully crafts an actual brand image, with use cases and future value, only to run away with the money following the ICO.
However, one of the easiest scams to recognize is giveaways. They’re on every platform you can imagine and are sometimes done by celebrities, which may seem reliable. However, no giveaway simply offers you crypto without something in exchange, be it buying additional products or offering important information.
What do you expect from Ethereum in the future?
Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency on the market and one of the best blockchains. It proved its uniqueness through smart contracts, NFTs, and decentralization, but has won investors’ hearts by continuously developing the ecosystem and making it a better place for everyone. That’s why 2025 will be an important year for the roadmap because it’ll establish the Verkle trees and pave the way toward further developments.
