Ethereum (ETH) has managed to tap $4,600 level after this weeks market downturn. The latest recovery remains modest, as the leading altcoin gained a little more than 7% over the past week.

Experts now argue, though, that September wont bring flashy catalysts either.

Dont Expect Fireworks in September

In a statement to CryptoPotato, Curve Finance said September is unlikely to bring a single headline catalyst. Instead, the team added that Ethereums importance lies in its role as the underlying infrastructure powering decentralized finance (DeFi).

By calling it the operating system of DeFi, they added that even though the market has seen a pullback after ETHs all-time high, the networks long-term fundamentals remain strong, with institutional adoption steadily growing.

These may not make daily headlines, but they are precisely what cements Ethereum as the backbone of both DeFi and the emerging digital economy. Development at the base layer is accelerating. Efforts by the Ethereum Foundation, Vitalik Buterin, and the zk/ethproofs groups are steadily pushing L1 scalability forward.

The comments align with the Ethereum Foundations recent move when it outlined its ambitious Trillion Dollar Security with the phase focusing on strengthening user experience (UX) security, combining immediate fixes with longer-term initiatives that aim to protect Ethereum as it scales.

The Foundation stated that wallet security sits at the heart of this effort, as safe key management and transaction signing are essential for user trust. By setting a baseline security standard for wallets and addressing blind signing risks, the EF seeks to ensure Ethereum can support billions of users and trillions in on-chain capital.

This structural focus is reflected in on-chain trends as well.

Ethereums Contract Boom

CryptoQuants analysis revealed that Ethereums recent surge in new smart contract creation is a strong indicator of renewed network utility and adoption.

Looking back, Smart contract growth has long mirrored Ethereum’s market cycles. The 2020-2021 DeFi and NFT boom, for example, coincided with a massive ETH rally. But similar bursts of contract activity have also preceded corrections, most notably in 2018 and late 2021. The current renewed surge in contract deployment demonstrated confidence in Ethereums long-term utility.

As such, growth in this metric could provide the structural base for ETH to climb beyond the much-anticipated $5,000 threshold.