🏦 The hammer: BlackRock goes all out (staking ETF)
BlackRock has officially extended/filed with the SEC to allow staking in their spot ETF to allow staking in its spot ETF.
- Until now, the $ETH (-0,18 %) just "dead" in the ETFs.
- If this goes through, institutional investors will not only get the price gains, but also the ~3-4% staking rewards.
- Why this is important: This finally makes ETH an "internet bond" (interest-bearing asset) for Wall Street. Selling pressure could drop massively as coins need to be locked for yield.
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🛠️ Tech news: "Fusaka" is live & fees drop
Since December 3, the Fusaka upgrade (Fulu + Osaka). We can now see the effects in the data:
- Fee crash on Layer 2: Thanks to "PeerDAS", costs for rollups (like Arbitrum, Base, Optimism) have dropped massively. Reports speak of -40% to -60% in transaction costs.
- The network is now scaling better than ever, which makes ETH a "settlement layer" without alternative.
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💼 ETH as hard collateral & treasury asset
It's no longer just about trading, but about using it as collateral:
- Derivatives trading: More and more exchanges and clearing houses are accepting ETH as collateral for derivatives trading. ETH is thus establishing itself as pristine collateral in the crypto space, similar to US government bonds in TradFi.
- Treasury strategy: The company BitMine is currently copying the MicroStrategy tactic, only with ETH. They have increased their holdings to almost 3.9 million. This shows: Companies trust the store of value function.
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🔮 Price targets & forecasts
Where is the journey heading? Analysts are predominantly bullish for 2026:
- Short term: A rebound above $4.000 is expected as soon as the market has fully priced in the BlackRock news.
- Long term (2026): Due to the shortage (staking + deflation due to fee burn), banks like Standard Chartered see targets of $7,500 to $10,000 next year as realistic.
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What do you guys think? Is the BlackRock filing the starting gun for the next run or will it take forever again with the SEC?
Sources:
- SEC Filings / Financial News: BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust Amendment (Dec 2025).
- Network data: Etherscan & L2Beat (post-Fusaka fee analysis).
- Company news: BitMine Immersion Technologies press release (Dec 2025).
- Market analysis: Standard Chartered Crypto Research Report (Q4 2025 Outlook).
