Ethereum

Crypto analyst Levi Rietveld warns that long-weekend geopolitical headlines and potential Trump announcements could intensify volatility over the next few months while XRP drifts toward long-term support. He says total crypto market cap slid from over $4.3 trillion in October 2025 to about $2.3 trillion by April, while XRP trades around $1.31 and approaches the 200-week SMA near roughly $1.14.

Charles Schwab has launched a waitlist for "Schwab Crypto," a new account designed to let clients buy and sell bitcoin and ether directly, with a first-half 2026 target for launch. CEO Rick Wurster has said the rollout is expected to begin with a limited release in Q2 before expanding, while the product will not be available in New York and Louisiana at the start. Fees and custody details have not been disclosed, and the bank says crypto transfers in or out will not be supported at launch.

Ethereum is trading around the $2,000 psychological level after failing to reclaim $2,151, leaving the next move uncertain in the middle of a wider multi-year range. The weekly structure cited by analyst Minga maps key downside liquidity levels at $1,537 and $1,384, with a potential macro-bottom region outlined between $1,190 and $1,148.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote this week that he has fully moved away from cloud AI and now runs a sandboxed, local LLM workflow. He said he switched off cloud services in April 2026 and runs Qwen3.5:35B on an Nvidia 5090 laptop at 90 tokens per second, while warning that AI agents and plugins can embed malicious instructions.

ETH held on exchanges fell to 10.969% of total supply, the lowest level recorded, while Bitcoin stood at 14.767%, its lowest since 2018. On April 3, 2026, the Ethereum Foundation completed its 70,000 ETH staking goal after depositing 45,034 ETH in a single transaction. With staking yields cited at 2.7%–3.8% APY, the projected income is described as covering less than 5% of the Foundation’s historical operating budget.

On April 3, 2026, the Ethereum Foundation staked about 45,034 ETH, lifting its active validator total to nearly 69,500 ETH and leaving it just short of a 70,000 ETH target. The deposits were valued around $93 million at prices near $2,059, and the foundation estimates the program could produce $3.9–$5.4 million per year in staking income.

Charles Schwab says it will roll out direct spot trading for Bitcoin and Ether in the first half of 2026, extending access across roughly 46 million brokerage accounts. The firm, which manages nearly $12 trillion in client assets, plans to offer the service under "Schwab Crypto" via Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, with an early-access waitlist already available.

Global X Management Company launched the Global X Ethereum Covered Call ETF (EHCC) on April 2, 2026, aiming to make weekly income distributions by selling call options on Ether-related ETPs. The actively managed fund charges a 0.75% expense ratio and invests at least 80% of net assets in U.S.-listed spot and futures Ether ETPs, without holding ETH directly.

Vitalik Buterin sold about 17,196 ETH in 2026 under a pre-announced framework, with transactions split into smaller batches to keep activity visible on-chain. In the same period, Ethereum's largest holder was the ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract, which held more than 62 million ETH and represented validator deposits securing the network. Exchange and institutional wallets also ranked among the biggest pooled holders, while Buterin was still listed at about 224,000 ETH.

BlackRock reduced crypto exposure over the past week as its spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs saw about $320 million in combined outflows. Bitcoin-related withdrawals led the move at roughly $185.1 million across five trading sessions, while the ETHA Ethereum fund recorded about $134.9 million over the same span.