ETH Slips Against SOL but Bets on Its Upcoming Upgrade

Ethereum has shown weakness once again—this time against the Solana network, often seen as its main competitor and once dubbed the “Ethereum killer.” The SOL/ETH pair just reached a new all-time high, marking Solana’s strongest position to date.

However, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin hinted that upcoming upgrades could arrive sooner than planned, boosting optimism within the Ethereum community.

Crypto Market Movement

SOL climbed to 0.081 against ETH on Binance, gaining nearly 40% since the start of 2025.

At the same time, major Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs are undergoing significant structural changes, signaling a shift in strategy among institutional players.

Over the past week, these cryptocurrencies showed price swings: 

• ETH gained over 4% 
• SOL jumped more than 20%

At the same time, ETH dropped against BTC, hitting its lowest level since January 2020. This sharp divergence highlights rising volatility and unpredictability in the digital asset space. Unlike in previous cycles, these assets no longer follow the same patterns or move in close correlation.

SOL’s growth against ETH comes from rising interest in the Solana ecosystem, while Ethereum faces negative trends that many investors struggle to accept.

The ETF market reflects this pressure on ETH. From April 7 to 11, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded a net outflow of $82.47 million (according to SoSoValue).

Related: Solana (SOL) Price Pumps 12% This Week — Here’s What’s Driving the Rally

Ethereum Upgrade and Vitalik Buterin’s Position

Experts are actively discussing Ethereum’s next major upgrade, Pectra. It will be the first significant update since the Dencun activation in March 2024 and brings several key features: 

• An increased staking limit
• A shift toward account abstraction
• More data blobs to support rollups

Vitalik Buterin emphasized that the community feels ready to speed up the pace of future hard forks after Pectra.

Read more: Ethereum Developers Target May 7 for Pectra Mainnet Launch

I'm seeing a lot of willingness to do faster hard forks post-pectra with near-zero pushback,

said Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum.

Alongside the technical upgrades, Buterin emphasized the role of social philosophy in developing the network’s application layer. He noted that the success of decentralized apps largely depends on the ideas of their developers.

He believes that applications built around privacy and decentralization can push the ecosystem forward, while those that go against these principles can harm the network’s reputation. His views highlight the need to consider both technical and social aspects when shaping Ethereum’s future.