Market trends always rise slowly amidst hesitation, then suddenly crash during moments of euphoria—this phrase is used today to evaluate Ethereum. Half of it is accurate, the other half raises questions.

This morning, when I was watching the market, I focused on the big green candle that shot straight from 3100 to 3380. At first, I didn’t think "the bull market is back," but instinctively checked how much U was left in my wallet—whether this rally's energy comes from genuine capital entering the market or is just an overreaction fueled by market sentiment.

Let’s review what happened last night. Two major pieces of news released during US Eastern Time immediately triggered FOMO in the crypto community: December CPI data from the US was more moderate than expected, with core inflation dropping to 2.6%. Wall Street instantly adjusted its expectation of Fed rate cuts from "one" to "at least two" this year. Almost simultaneously, the draft of the "CLARITY Act," which had been prepared for half a year, was finally unveiled, clearly delineating the regulatory powers of the SEC and CFTC, even including DeFi in the exemption scope—this was like a "calm pill" for institutional investors. Some top institutions even publicly said on social media, "Regulatory uncertainty has been cut in half."

But the more explosive data comes from on-chain metrics. Reports show that Ethereum added an average of 327,000 new wallets daily over the past week, with Sunday reaching a peak of 393,000. The total number of non-zero wallets has surpassed 172.9 million—what does this mean? During the most difficult part of the bear market in early 2025, daily new wallets were less than 50,000. Now, it’s more than six times that.

These numbers are quite eye-catching. The question is, how long can this enthusiasm last? Institutions are asking, retail investors are asking, and more importantly—where is the next driving force?