Ethereum and Solana position networks for a 2026 DeFi rebound

In 2025 major layer-1 networks focused on consolidation, building tooling and infrastructure to improve interoperability and support more real-world financial use cases. Ethereum saw a surge in institutional adoption and steady scaling progress, with protocol work aimed at making the mainnet more scalable and transactions cheaper.

Builders increasingly identified layer-2 interoperability—easier movement of assets across layer-twos and Ethereum—as a primary challenge heading into 2026. Industry figures described recent upgrades as moving the ecosystem from years of fragmented UX and liquidity toward a more unified experience, setting the stage for faster, lower-cost, interoperable DeFi for both users and institutions.

While spot ETFs expanded access to ether, observers noted they do not expose investors to onchain economic activity; digital asset treasuries (DATs) were cited as filling that gap. ETH’s price swung from a low of $1,472 in April to $4,832 by August when DATs were trending, and sits at roughly $3,000, according to CoinMarketCap.

Some builders hope 2026’s phase will be driven less by speculation and more by tangible consumer utility—products like crypto neobanks that combine self-custody, yield and composability, plus tokenized equities and broader banking services built on crypto rails. Solana spent 2025 stress-testing and hardening its stack.

Key Topics

Crypto, Ethereum, Solana, Alpenglow, Digital Asset Treasuries, Spot Etfs