In recent developments, $ETH has reclaimed the $4,000 level as optimism returns to the market, driven by strong whale accumulation and growing hopes for faster spot-ETF approvals that would broaden institutional access.  Meanwhile, analysts are turning increasingly bullish: Standard Chartered recently raised its year-end forecast for $ETH to $7,500.  At the same time, researchers are flagging a technical nuance in Ethereum’s upcoming ePBS (Proposer–Builder Separation) upgrade: a “free option” vulnerability where block builders might avoid committing payloads under certain conditions, potentially affecting network liveness during volatile periods.