Ethereum slides; Glamsterdam expected

Ethereum fell to about $1,989.04 on June 1, extending a weak 2026 stretch as traders weighed the effects of the recent Pectra upgrade against continued spot ETF outflows. Trackers cited in market coverage put the one-day move at roughly 2.05%, leaving ether back below the $2,000 level that has acted as a near-term line for traders. Separate market reports have described Ethereum as down about 32% for the year even as activity tied to dollar-backed assets on the network has remained large. ### Why did ether drop even after Pectra landed? The Ethereum Foundation said in its 2026 protocol priorities update that Pectra landed on mainnet in May, delivering features including EIP-7702 and following a period of higher gas-limit settings on mainnet. That meant one of Ethereum’s most anticipated recent technical milestones had already arrived before Monday’s price move, shifting trader attention from the launch itself to what comes next. (tradersunion.com) Recent market coverage has tied the latest price pressure to continued outflows from spot Ethereum ETFs and broader risk-off sentiment. BeInCrypto reported last week that ether closed May down 12.6% after $401 million in ETF outflows, while other market trackers showed ETH still trading under key technical levels into June 1. ### What did Pectra actually change on Ethereum? Pectra combined execution-layer and consensus-layer changes, according to ethereum.org, and was designed to improve the network for users, developers and validators. (blog.ethereum.org) The Ethereum Foundation said one headline feature, EIP-7702, lets externally owned accounts temporarily execute smart-contract code, enabling functions such as transaction batching, gas sponsorship and social recovery. (beincrypto.com) The same Ethereum Foundation update said the community also raised the mainnet gas limit from 30 million to 60 million between upgrades, the first significant increase since 2021. That work, together with history expiry, was presented by the foundation as part of a broader effort to improve throughput and reduce node storage burdens. ### If Pectra is done, what is Glamsterdam? (ethereum.org) Ethereum.org describes Glamsterdam as the upcoming Ethereum upgrade and says it is designed to clear the path for the next generation of scaling. The roadmap page lists the fork as planned for the first half of 2026, but the site also says Ethereum’s roadmap is community-driven and subject to change. The Ethereum Foundation has given a similarly forward-looking but not fixed timetable. (blog.ethereum.org) In February, it said Glamsterdam was the next major network upgrade, targeted for the first half of 2026, with ambitions including parallel execution, higher gas limits, enshrined proposer-builder separation, blob scaling, censorship-resistance work, native account abstraction and post-quantum security progress. (ethereum.org) ### Why are developers talking about delays or slippage? An April Ethereum Foundation “Checkpoint” post said Glamsterdam progress was “slow but steady” and that enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS, was proving trickier than anticipated. The same post said non-headliner features such as gas repricing were also adding complexity. In May, the foundation said core developers gathered in Svalbard, Norway, to harden and prepare for Glamsterdam. (blog.ethereum.org) A separate recap from the same month said more than 100 core contributors met above the Arctic Circle for focused work on the upgrade, underscoring that the fork remained in active development rather than at a final release stage. ### How should readers separate network growth from token price weakness? (blog.ethereum.org) Ethereum’s market weakness has not meant every Ethereum-linked metric is falling. Market reports cited in the source briefing said the Ethereum-linked stablecoin market had reached roughly $161 billion in capitalization, a sign that the network’s role in on-chain dollar activity has remained substantial even while ether itself lost ground this year. That figure comes from market reporting rather than a fresh Ethereum Foundation disclosure, so it should be read as a tracker estimate. (blog.ethereum.org) For now, the next concrete milestone is Glamsterdam. Ethereum.org still lists the upgrade on its roadmap, and Ethereum Foundation posts in February, April and May show core developers working through feature scope and implementation ahead of the next fork. (ethereum.org) (coingecko.com)