What will happen to Ethereum in 2026? This question is increasingly appearing in industry discussions.

Recently, some top research institutions and ecosystem builders have provided their judgments, with core opinions pointing to the same conclusion: 2026 will be a critical year for Ethereum to achieve a qualitative breakthrough. This is not just based on belief but supported by real financial data, institutional actions, and technical roadmaps.

**Institutions Invest Heavily, Whales in Action**

From a funding perspective, major players have already begun early deployment. Joseph Chalom, co-CEO of SharpLink, recently explicitly stated that the convergence of three forces—stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets (RWA), and large-scale entry of sovereign wealth funds—will lead to explosive growth in Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) in 2026.

Look at these numbers:
- Stablecoin market size expected to surpass $500 billion
- Tokenized RWA size to reach $300 billion
- ETH and tokenized assets held by sovereign funds could increase by 5 to 10 times

This is not mere speculation. We have already seen institutional-level real operations taking place. For example, Bitmine recently staked 74,880 ETH, while SharpLink adjusted its positions during the same period. These large players’ deployment and rebalancing are all preparing for a bigger trend.

**Real Technological Breakthroughs**

More importantly, the breakthrough is at the protocol layer. The Ethereum research community has a consensus: 2026 will be a critical point for Ethereum to achieve exponential scalability relying on zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology.

The most core change is in the validation model. Traditionally, running validator nodes requires significant hardware. But with the introduction of ZK proofs, this barrier will be greatly lowered. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake has demonstrated that a single old laptop can perform ZK proof verification. What does this mean? It means more people can participate in network validation, making the network more decentralized.

The technical roadmap is also very clear:
- Currently in Phase 0
- By 2026, advancing to Phase 1, with an estimated 10% of validators switching to ZK validation mode by the end of the year
- This switch will bring immediate layer 1 scalability benefits
- In 2027, entering Phase 2, achieving full ZK integration at the execution layer

Meanwhile, the Glamsterdam fork upgrade is progressing, which will enhance parallel processing capabilities, and the gas limit is planned to be increased to 200 million.

**Imaginative Breakthroughs in Throughput**

If these developments proceed as planned, Ethereum’s transaction throughput goal is to surpass 10,000 transactions per second. This is not a distant fantasy but will be gradually realized through specific upgrade roadmaps within the current technical framework.

**On-Chain AI and Prediction Markets Become New Hotspots**

Beyond the core layer upgrades, application layer innovations are also evolving. On-chain AI agents and prediction markets are expected to see broader adoption in 2026.

Overall, 2026 could indeed be a turning point for Ethereum. Not due to a single factor, but because of the convergence of capital inflows from finance, protocol innovations in technology, and breakthroughs in applications. These forces are gathering at the same point in time. This also explains why industry insiders have high expectations for this year.