With the price of Ethereum exceeding $3,800, can the DeFi and NFT markets hit new highs?

Recently, the price of Ethereum (ETH) has strongly exceeded the $3,800 mark, attracting widespread attention from the market. This price level is not only an important technical hurdle, but also a weather vane for market confidence. Driven by the dual driving of the recovery of the macro environment and the favorable ecology of its own, people can't help but ask: Can the DeFi and NFT markets, as the two pillars of the Ethereum ecosystem, take advantage of this east wind to hit a historical high again?

Mainstream Ethereum exchanges in 2025:

Ou Yi :

Binance:

Huobi:

Multiple dynamics behind the soaring Ethereum price

This round of Ethereum's rise is not accidental, but the result of the joint action of multiple factors.

Spot ETF expectations: key catalysts that ignite the market

The most core narrative of the current market is undoubtedly around the expectation that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve Ethereum spot ETFs. Once approved, it will mean that a huge amount of funds in the traditional financial field can enter the Ethereum market through compliance channels, which brings unprecedented liquidity and legitimacy to it, fundamentally changing the asset attributes of Ethereum and being the most direct driving force for its price increase.

The far-reaching impact of the Cancun upgrade

The successfully implemented Cancun upgrade has significantly reduced the transaction costs of the Layer 2 network by introducing Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844). This means that the cost of trading, minting NFTs, and participating in DeFi protocols on layer two solutions such as Arbitrum and Optimism has dropped significantly. A lower threshold will attract more users to participate, which will greatly improve the overall activity and availability of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Promoted by macro market sentiment

With the successful launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs and continuing to attract capital inflows, sentiment in the entire cryptocurrency market has risen. As the second-largest crypto asset with market value, Ethereum naturally becomes an important beneficiary of this bull market wave, forming a positive linkage effect with Bitcoin.

DeFi market: Return to the peak or surpass the peak?

The rise in Ethereum prices has had a direct and positive impact on the DeFi (decentralized finance) sector.

Direct improvement of total locked value (TVL)

The total locked value (TVL) of the DeFi protocol is usually denominated in US dollars. Since most of the locked assets are ETH or ETH-related assets, the rise in ETH price will directly push up TVL data denominated in US dollars, creating a market boom.

Enhanced user engagement

In a bull market, investors are more willing to invest their funds in various DeFi protocols to seek higher returns, such as through pledge or lending. The low gas fees brought by the Cancun upgrade have reduced the cost of users trying complex DeFi strategies, and is expected to stimulate a new round of application innovation and user growth.

The emergence of new narratives

In addition to traditional lending, trading and other businesses, new concepts such as restaking (restaking) are emerging, injecting new vitality into the DeFi market. Projects represented by EigenLayer provide new sources of income for ETH holders, further enhancing the attractiveness of holding ETH, and also bringing new composable LEGO bricks to the DeFi ecosystem.

Overall, the DeFi market is not only expected to return to its high point in data, but is more likely to surpass its application breadth and depth, and build a healthier and more diversified ecosystem than the previous bull market.

NFT market: Can we usher in a second spring?

After experiencing a long pullback, the NFT (non-fungible token) market also saw the dawn of recovery.

Wealth effect and purchasing power improvement

The rise in ETH prices has brought about a significant "wealth effect". Investors holding ETH feel more wealthy when their assets appreciate, which will directly translate into consumption willingness to spend on digital collectibles such as NFT. Many blue-chip NFTs are denominated in ETH, and the strong performance of ETH has stabilized the value base of these core assets.

Reduced transaction costs to activate market liquidity

NFT's casting, purchasing and selling are inseparable from on-chain transactions. The Cancun upgrade makes the cost of NFT operations on Layer 2 extremely low, which will greatly promote the trading activity of mid- and low-priced NFTs and re-filled the market with liquidity. A more inclusive market is the prerequisite for NFTs to move towards large-scale adoption.

Return to value from hype to application

Unlike the fanaticism in 2021, the current NFT market is more mature and has begun to focus on practical applications, community culture and long-term value. NFT projects that combine game NFT, identity credentials, membership and other practicality may become the main force leading the next wave of growth. The market's focus is shifting from pure speculation to sustainable value building.

Conclusion: New highs are expected, but the paths are different

All in all, Ethereum’s price exceeded $3,800 , injecting strong confidence and momentum into the DeFi and NFT markets. Thanks to the institutional attention brought by the expectations of spot ETFs , the technical dividends brought by the Cancun upgrade and the positive sentiment in the overall market, the two major ecological sectors have indeed had a solid foundation for setting new highs.

However, this time the upward path may be different from before. It will no longer be a carnival driven simply by speculative bubbles, but more of a healthy growth based on technological progress, application implementation and market maturity improvement. For DeFi, this means lower thresholds and richer application scenarios; for NFT, it means a transformation from hype to practical value. Although it is impossible to accurately predict the highest point in the future, it is certain that the Ethereum ecosystem is on a broader and more sustainable development path.

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