- Key privacy initiatives renew optimism in the second-largest cryptocurrency, analysts say.
- Integration of Railgun in particular has attracted further investor interest.
Ethereum is poised for a hefty rally amid rebounding market conditions, as a major privacy initiative and fresh integrations renew optimism in the $502 billion cryptocurrency.
That’s according to Shawn Young, chief analyst of MEXC Research, who told DL News that when liquidity returns, Ethereum is on track to jump as high as $5,200.
Young cited the Ethereum Foundation’s new privacy initiative as a key catalyst.
“With global interest in privacy, decentralised identity, and secure data ownership, Ethereum’s roadmap is perfectly aligned with the next wave of blockchain adoption.”
Young isn’t alone in his bullishness.
“The next test is if ETH can reclaim $4,500,” Ray Youssef, CEO of peer-to-peer platform NoOnes, told DL News. “That could open the path toward $5,000 to $5,200 in the fourth quarter.”
After last week’s crypto bloodbath wiped out $19 billion in leveraged positions, Ethereum has rebounded above $4,100.
Privacy focus
The Ethereum Foundation’s new “Privacy Cluster,” a 47-person research and engineering team unveiled last week, marks one of the blockchain’s biggest strategic developments in years.
It aims to embed protocol-level privacy — including private payments, decentralised identity, and zero-knowledge infrastructure — directly into Ethereum’s architecture.
The integration of privacy tech Railgun into its new privacy wallet toolkit, Kohaku, has become a lightning rod for investor optimism.
Railgun’s token surged nearly 300% in a week after the announcement, highlighting renewed confidence in Ethereum’s commitment to privacy-focused infrastructure.
Privacy protocols like Railgun enable users to protect wallet balances and transaction histories without compromising compliance, a feature that is increasingly sought after by both retail users and institutional players.
“To advance the adoption of Web3, privacy must be treated as a core design principle, not an optional feature,” Eran Barak, CEO of engineering company Shielded Technologies, told DL News.
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin is up 0.7% over the past 24 hours to trade at $112,698.
- Ethereum is up 3.6% over the past 24 hours, trading at $4,153.
What we’re reading
- Larry Fink: ‘Bitcoin shouldn’t be a large portion of your portfolio’ as BlackRock ETF drops to $90bn — DL News
- Record $19bn crypto crash exposes dark side of leverage boom — DL News
- Bhutan Migrates National Digital Identity to Ethereum — Unchained
- Alts just entered price discovery — Milk Road
- How Ethereum’s AI push can counter ‘menace’ of tech giants — DL News
Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email lance@dlnews.com.
