October 28, 2025 — 08:18 am EDT Ethereum futures are exhibiting slight upward movement on Thursday, with contracts seeing an increase of 10 to 20 points as midday approaches. The Gate composite index price for Ethereum has risen by 15 points, reaching $3,827.50. Data released this morning from the Blockchain Analytics firm revealed a total of 1.923 million ETH in new smart contract deployments for the week ending October 20, 2025. This figure surpassed analysts' expectations, which ranged between 1 and 1.8 million ETH. The current week's activity represents a 56.2% increase from the previous week and more than triples the volume observed during the same period last year. In related news, a major decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol has announced plans to integrate Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, with the implementation scheduled for Friday. | Contract | Price | Change | |----------|-------|--------| | ETH/USD Dec 2025 | $4,255.00 | +12.50 | | ETH/USD Mar 2026 | $3,827.50 | +15.00 | | ETH/USD Jun 2026 | $4,425.00 | +15.00 | | ETH/USD Sep 2026 | $4,515.00 | +12.50 |

The ETF narrative takes over, with HBAR leading the encryption market. The market focus has shifted from AI to ETF expectations, with significant differentiation in capital flows. HBAR surged 17% in a single day, LTC rose 7%, while SOL only gained 1.5%. The core driver is that this Wednesday (October 30), the SOL, LTC, and HBAR spot ETFs will face a decision window on the same day, and the market is pricing in advance. Among them, HBAR has gained institutional favor due to the lack of controversy over its 'securities attributes', and its ETF, driven by Canary, will be listed on Nasdaq tomorrow alongside the LTC ETF, becoming a key leader in the surge.