As of February 16, 2026, $ETH is trading near $2,000, while the network has reached a historic milestone โ 30.5% of the total $ETH supply is now locked in staking contracts.
๐ฅ Recent News & Key Developments
๐ Staking Milestone
๐ Participation in $ETH staking has surged to an all-time high. It has doubled from around 15% in early 2023 to over 30% today. This significantly reduces the circulating supply available for active trading, potentially strengthening long-term supply dynamics.
๐ก๏ธ Security Roadmap 2026
๐ The Ethereum Foundation has officially made security its top priority for 2026. A February deadline has been set for zkEVM teams to integrate advanced security estimation tools aimed at preventing potential proof forgeries and strengthening network integrity.
๐๏ธ Institutional Shift Toward Ethereum
๐ Institutional confidence continues to grow. Notably, a fund associated with Harvard University has increased its Ethereum holdings to approximately $87 million, reflecting strong long-term conviction among large-scale investors.
โ๏ธ Technical Evolution โ L1-zkEVM Breakthrough
๐ On February 11, 2026, developers held a key breakout call regarding L1-zkEVM. The long-term vision is transformative: enabling nodes to validate blocks using zero-knowledge proofs instead of re-executing every transaction โ a major leap toward scalability and efficiency.
Ethereum is not just evolving in price โ it is evolving in structure, security, and institutional relevance.
#Ethereum #Crypto #Blockchain #Staking #zkEVM
Researched By ๐ Varoon K Jeswani
