• Vitalik Buterin's Geth node occupies just 461 GiB after pruning, per his X post.

• EIP-4444 and snap sync cut Ethereum full-node sync to about 12 hours under 0.5 TB.

• kohaku-cli alpha-tests ZK privacy integrating Tornado Cash, Railgun and Privacy Pools.

A 461 GiB Geth Node

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin confirmed that the local AI hardware boom has quietly solved one of the network's longest-running accessibility problems: the cost of running a full node at home. In a post showing his own setup, Buterin revealed that his Geth node, once pruning is applied, occupies just 461 GiB of disk space. The high-end workstations enthusiasts are now buying en masse to run large language models locally — typically built around NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPUs and high-capacity NVMe drives for storing model weights — already exceed the technical requirements of an validator node, meaning the blockchain can be verified as little more than a background process. The shrinkage stems from two engineering tracks: the EIP-4444 standard, which limits how much historical data full nodes must retain, and optimizations to snap sync, which cut synchronization time to roughly 12 hours and pushed disk requirements below 0.5 TB. The next hard fork, Glamsterdam, is set to accelerate base-layer (L1) synchronization further. Buterin also noted that in his own workflow he increasingly replaces browser-based dApps — interfaces that hardcode calls to commercial RPC providers capable of harvesting user metadata — with command-line tools. The logical next step, he argues, is kohaku-cli, a command-line wallet developed with support from the Ethereum Foundation that ships privacy “out of the box” and is already alpha-testing private balance management built on ZK protocols including smart contract-level integrations of Tornado Cash, Railgun and Privacy Pools. For Ethereum, the shift reframes home computers from windows into someone else's cloud into independent nodes that verify the blockchain and settle transactions without intermediaries.

EGRAG Crypto's $2,000 Rotation Trigger

A very different Ethereum (ETH) story is circulating among traders. Analyst EGRAG Crypto laid out a conditional accumulation plan on X, stating he would seriously consider building a sizable ETH position if the asset retests the $2,000 level — the scenario he published frames the move not as a sudden bearish reversal call, but as a capital-rotation strategy. Under that approach, gains harvested from an anticipated ETH advance would later be redirected into altcoin positions where he holds higher conviction, rather than left parked while the broader altcoin market expands. His long-term roadmap puts the first major target at $8,500 — roughly a 4.25x move from a $2,000 entry — with an upper scenario at $33,000, implying approximately 16.5x from that same reference level. The analyst's argument is sequencing: if Ethereum rallies ahead of a wider altcoin expansion, capital positioned in ETH captures that leg first. These are conditional projections, not realized price targets — reaching either figure depends on market liquidity, demand, network usage and the position of the broader crypto cycle. What matters operationally is whether $2,000 ever prints; ETH would need to shed roughly 25% from current levels to test it.

$2,799 Ceiling vs. $2,681 Floor

COINOTAG's proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine places ETH at $2,686 (+0.19% over 24 hours), sitting directly on the $2,681 support rated 86/100 (STRONG) on confluence from Flip R→S, Fibo 0.114, S1 and a MACD cross. Overhead, the $2,799.28 resistance scores 84/100 via Fibo 0.000, Donchian Upper, Swing High and R3, with $2,700.65 a softer 55/100 barrier (Flip S→R, Bearish Engulfing, Pivot Point). RSI reads 63.06 and MACD is bullish within an uptrend. Derivatives show funding at 0.0020%, open interest at $11.14B and a 1.56 long/short account ratio (61.0% long), with Fear & Greed at 74 (Greed) — crowded but not extreme. Holding $2,681 keeps the push toward $2,799 live; losing it opens $2,567 (44/100), then $2,314.75 (63/100), with EGRAG's $2,000 watch level sitting near our $2,006.82 mark (48/100).