Ethereum

Santiment's Brian Quinlivan said in a YouTube video published Saturday that Ethereum's social sentiment has dropped to levels similar to those before its 2025 surge. He pointed to the Aug 23 move back to the 2021 peak of $4,878 after an April low of $1,472 and a near 70% four-month climb. Ether traded around $3,089, roughly 36% below its high, amid broader risk aversion.

On January 11, 2026, Ethereum's Beacon Chain saw its staking entry queue rise to about 1.759 million ETH (roughly $5.5 billion), according to ValidatorQueue. The exit queue fell to zero, while price hovered near $3,000, with traders eyeing $2,700 if support breaks.

Ethereum’s social sentiment has dropped back to levels last seen before its 2025 recovery rally, while its price trades around $3,094 after a 36% pullback from the 2021 peak of $4,878. Analysts highlight depressed mood, strong network growth, and rising staking interest alongside a lingering risk-off environment dominated by Bitcoin as factors that could set up Ethereum’s next significant move.

Ethereum staking demand has accelerated, with the activation queue at a yearly high and about 1.76 million ETH (~$5.5 billion) awaiting entry. New validators face a wait of just over 30 days, while the exit queue has fallen to zero. The shift comes as ETH price action remains relatively subdued.

Ethereum’s social sentiment has fallen to levels similar to those seen ahead of its 2025 price surge back to its 2021 all-time high, according to Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan. He argued this negative mood could limit further downside, even as Ether trades about 36% below its peak and broader crypto sentiment remains stuck in “Fear” territory.

Binance co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao has reiterated his optimistic outlook on digital assets, stating on X that a crypto "super cycle" is expected to begin in 2026 and drive prices far beyond prior projections. He contrasts this view with the traditional four-year market cycle thesis and continues to spotlight Bitcoin, BNB and Aster as his preferred long-term holdings, while separate analysts and investors are also focusing on emerging tokens like Bitcoin Hyper and Floki.

At the beginning of 2026, major cryptocurrencies and meme coins have rebounded from the prior year's downturn, while retail sentiment has turned more optimistic but remains highly reactive to short-term news. Social and sentiment data indicate that Bitcoin is trading increasingly in line with macroeconomic signals and ETF flows, as Ethereum, XRP and Solana see mixed yet notable shifts in discussion and price action. Meme coins, led by Dogecoin and its leveraged ETF performance, have also attracted renewed interest alongside whale activity and social media hype.

On January 10, 2026, Vitalik Buterin warned about what he calls "corposlop", urging crypto builders to prioritize sovereignty, privacy and user agency. Responding to a tweet forecasting 2026–2030, he said he agreed with 60% of the predictions and outlined tools to resist anti-user designs, including local-first apps, user-controlled social platforms, open and private AI, and mission-driven DAOs.

On Monday, the Starknet team published a post‑mortem on a temporary mainnet outage, attributing it to a state mismatch between its execution blockifier and proving layer. The incident triggered a block reorganization that reverted 18 minutes of activity. In September 2025, a sequencer bug caused a separate five‑hour halt, two reorganizations, and about 1 hour rolled back.

From early 2025 into early 2026, BTC's volume dominance slid from 45–50% toward 30–35%, while altcoins expanded above 55% and often 60–65%. ETH's share fluctuated between 20% and 30%. On-chain metrics show Ethereum addresses climbed from about 300 million to 370 million, but BNB Chain led with past 730 million addresses and roughly 4.4 million daily active users.