The highly anticipated Pectra upgrade went live on the Ethereum (ETH) mainnet on May 7. The upgrade introduced several Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) that enhance various aspects of the network, focusing on scaling, staking efficiency, user experience, and interoperability.

However, market watchers believe Pectra could also impact the price of ETH and push it over $2,000, a level not seen since March 28.

Tracy Jin, Chief Operating Officer of MEXC, told BeInCrypto that the upgrade can be a bullish catalyst for ETH. Jin emphasized that the upgrade would enhance Ethereum’s infrastructure and lay the groundwork for a fresh wave of Web3 innovations.

This, she believes, could attract renewed interest from institutional investors and stimulate the continued expansion of the Ethereum ecosystem. Furthermore, Jin predicts that many Web3 developers may choose to return to the network. Thus, this would position Ethereum to regain its leading role in the altcoin market.

“Technically, a successful upgrade could trigger a bullish sentiment and breakout moment for ETH to move towards the $2,200 zone, potentially kickstarting another cycle of the altcoin season,” Jin told BeInCrypto.

ETH’s recent performance supports this optimism. Analyst Ted Pillows noted on X (formerly Twitter) that ETH broke out of a four-month resistance level a few days ago. 

He added that the altcoin has continued to hold above this level, according to the latest data. 

“As I said before, it’s time for ETH to rally now, and that will happen soon,” Pillows predicted.

Pillows’ forecast already appears to be materializing. After the upgrade, ETH rose significantly and reclaimed the $1,900 level today, marking its highest price since early April. 

BeInCrypto data showed that the price appreciated 4.9% over the past 24 hours. At press time, the altcoin traded at $1,929. 

Meanwhile, from an on-chain perspective, CryptoQuant data showed that the total amount of ETH staked has risen from 33.7 million to 34.4 million since the upgrade news started gaining traction. This represented a net inflow of 627,000 ETH, indicating growing confidence among stakers. 

“This could mark the beginning of institutional positioning, or at minimum, a restoration of confidence post-upgrade. The scale of inflows isn’t explosive yet — but the direction has changed,” Kripto Mevsimi remarked.

While the inflows aren’t substantial, the trend suggests that investors are becoming more interested in and confident about participating in the Ethereum ecosystem again.

However, not all forecasts are uniformly positive. Marcin Kazmierczak, Co-founder and COO of RedStone, offered a more cautious outlook.

“The long-term impact on Ethereum’s price remains difficult to quantify with precision. While there’s a positive correlation between increased blob space consumption and ETH burning (which reduces supply), these mechanisms don’t operate in ceteris paribus conditions,” Kazmierczak told BeInCrypto.

He explained that increased activity on Layer 2 solutions could shift transactions away from Layer 1. This is significant because L1 transactions traditionally burn more fees (i.e., reduce the supply of ETH) compared to L2 transactions. As more transactions move to L2, this could reduce the amount of ETH burned and affect its supply dynamics.

At the same time, Ethereum’s roadmap is also progressing to introduce new L1 solutions designed to scale independently. These initiatives aim to improve Ethereum’s scalability without depending on L2 enhancements.

However, Kazmierczak stressed that the frameworks for integrating these parallel scaling approaches are still in development.

“Ultimately, Ethereum navigates extraordinarily complex territory as it simultaneously advances L2 scalability, enhances L1 performance, and maintains ETH’s monetary soundness. This multifaceted challenge represents both a formidable technical dilemma and an exciting frontier in blockchain architecture,” he commented. 

As Ethereum charts its path forward, the Pectra upgrade has set the stage for a potential price rally. Whether ETH can sustain momentum and reach $2,000 remains to be seen.