Ethereum’s social buzz has cooled to levels some analysts compare with the period before last year’s powerful rebound, but experts say that doesn’t automatically mean another big surge is imminent.
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Sentiment Mirrors Past Lows
According to Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan, social media sentiment around Ethereum has slipped and now sits near the low range seen before the 2025 rally.
Quinlivan suggested that the decline in chatter “argues against us falling too much further,” and he pointed out that price has often climbed after strong public doubt.
On Aug. 23, Ether hit a fresh all-time high of around $4,900, a move that followed a recovery from a yearly low near $1,470 in April, based on CoinGecko data.
That rally pushed the token back above its 2021 high. Since then, Ether has retreated about 36% from the peak and was trading at $3,089 at the time of the reports.
Market Shock And Liquidity Events
Reports have disclosed that a mass liquidation on Oct. 10 triggered close to $20 billion of losses across the crypto market, and that event is linked to the more recent pullback. The liquidation hit many positions and was followed by a broader risk-off mood.
Crypto fear gauges have been low. One index posted a Fear score of 29 on Sunday, while the Altcoin Season Index shows a Bitcoin Season score of 34 out of 100 — a reading that points to money flowing into Bitcoin rather than into altcoins over the past 90 days. That mix of metrics is being watched closely by traders who size positions on sentiment shifts.
Network Activity And Staking Interest
Quinlivan also highlighted on-chain signals he finds positive. According to his view, activity on Ethereum’s network has been rising, and staking has drawn more attention from users.
Increasing bandwidth is safer than reducing latency
With PeerDAS and ZKPs, we know how to scale, and potentially we can scale thousands of times compared to the status quo. The numbers become far more favorable than before (eg. see analysis here, pre and post-sharding…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 8, 2026
Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin has joined the public conversation about technical upgrades. Buterin said in an extended X post that PeerDAS, which arrived with the Fusaka upgrade, along with zero-knowledge proofs and sharding, will push Ethereum toward much higher throughput.
He added that layer-2 networks like Base, Polygon, and Optimism will still be needed because many use cases demand speeds that are even quicker than mainnet.
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Institutional Views And Market Positioning
Based on reports, Coinbase Asset Management president Anthony Bassili said in November 2025 that investors tend to view Bitcoin first and Ethereum second when building a core portfolio.
That stance reflects how many large investors now treat Ether as the default number-two market cap asset rather than as a fringe bet. With that status, downside expectations can be smaller than for riskier tokens. Still, sentiment can remain low for long stretches, and being ranked highly does not remove volatility.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Ethereum has retraced below the $3,200 level following the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, a move that initially sparked volatility across the crypto market. While many expected a stronger reaction from Ethereum, the asset instead slipped lower as traders reassessed the macro environment and the implications of a potential shift toward stagflation. Despite this pullback, on-chain data suggests that the underlying market structure may be quietly improving.
According to new insights from CryptoQuant, Ethereum’s Net Taker Volume (30-day moving average) is showing a clear upward trend in its lows. This metric tracks the balance between aggressive buyers and sellers in the derivatives market. Although ETH remains under selling pressure, the data reveals that the intensity of aggressive selling has been weakening steadily over the past several weeks. Each subsequent negative low is forming higher than the previous one, signaling that sellers are losing dominance.
While the broader sentiment remains cautious, subtle improvements in Net Taker Volume suggest that ETH’s current weakness may be masking the early stage of a larger structural shift.
Net Taker Volume Signals a Potential Structural Shift
According to CryptoQuant’s CoinCare, Ethereum may once again be approaching a pivotal turning point. The report highlights that a similar Net Taker Volume structure appeared earlier this year. After forming a clear bottom in January 2025, the metric began to trend upward—even while remaining in the negative zone—indicating that aggressive sellers were gradually losing strength.
By April, Net Taker Volume flipped decisively into positive territory. From that exact moment, Ethereum entered one of its strongest rallies of the cycle, surging more than 3x and printing a new all-time high.
Current conditions echo that same pattern. Since the peak of selling pressure in September, the market has continuously absorbed sell flows for nearly three months. Each negative low in Net Taker Volume has formed higher than the previous one, revealing improving market resilience despite the broader downtrend. If this trajectory holds, CoinCare estimates that a positive flip in Net Taker Volume may be only about a month away.
Historically, this transition from negative to positive has marked the beginning of Ethereum’s most explosive breakout phases. A confirmed move into positive territory would represent a high-probability trigger for the next expansion toward new all-time highs, signaling that momentum is quietly rebuilding beneath the surface.
ETH Weekly Structure Attempts a Recovery
Ethereum’s weekly chart shows the market attempting to stabilize after several weeks of volatility, with price currently trading near $3,195 following a strong rebound from the $2,800 zone. This area acted as a key demand region in mid-2024 and has once again provided support, preventing a deeper breakdown. The recent weekly candle reflects renewed buying interest, closing firmly above the 50-week moving average, a level that often defines medium-term trend direction.
Despite this rebound, ETH still faces structural challenges. The 100-week moving average — now overhead — has acted as resistance throughout the current downtrend, and the price rejected it again on the latest push toward $3,447. Until Ethereum can reclaim this dynamic resistance with conviction, the broader trend remains neutral to slightly bearish.
Volume also shows a notable shift: sell-side activity has been declining over the past month, while buyers are beginning to step in more aggressively at key support levels. This aligns with the improvement in on-chain metrics, suggesting weakening selling pressure.
For bulls, the next major objective is a weekly close above $3,400, which would signal a potential trend reversal. A failure to break this level, however, risks another retest of $2,900–$2,800, where market sentiment would again be tested.
Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
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Ethereum is holding firm within the $3,600–$3,800 range, showing resilience despite recent market pullbacks. Such a consolidation phase could be the calm before a major breakout, as chart patterns hint at a possible pre-rally formation that might propel ETH toward new all-time highs.
Potential Right Shoulder Formation Signals Structural Strength
Crypto analyst MarketMaestro delivered a detailed technical update on ETH, noting that the asset recently suffered a key rejection at its neckline resistance. Following this failure, the price is now positioned in a crucial retest phase at a red diagonal resistance line that it had previously surpassed. ETH’s market’s success in holding this diagonal is essential to avoid completely losing the bullish momentum built up in the prior moves.
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The analyst further noted that the current price movement suggests ETH could be forming a right shoulder in this region. This structural development is highly significant because the right shoulder simultaneously works to complete two major, highly bullish chart patterns.
It is the final component needed to create the handle for the Cup and Handle pattern, while forming a larger Inverse Head and Shoulders (Inverse H&S) pattern. The simultaneous formation of both the Inverse H&S and the Cup and Handle in the same area is extremely rare and powerful, indicating that the market is setting the stage for highly bullish formations for the next quarter.
Considering this powerful confluence of classic reversal and continuation patterns, along with the behavior of the broader market index, MarketMaestro views this entire consolidation phase not as weakness but as a logical pre-rally setup. He concludes with a high degree of confidence that the “pain threshold” or the maximum expected downside risk will likely not be very high.
Bullish Bias Intact As Long As Support Remains Firm
In a recent update, analyst Crypto Candy noted that the ETH scenario remains largely unchanged, despite recent market movements. A key takeaway from the analysis is that the asset is demonstrating significant resilience by strongly holding the crucial support zone between $3,600 and $3,800.
Related Reading: Here’s What Happens To The Ethereum Price If Bullish Momentum Holds
The analyst reiterated the importance of this specific range, emphasizing that as long as the $3,600–$3,800 zone successfully sustains, the medium-term bullish outlook remains firmly in place. This suggests that buyers are aggressively defending this level, preventing a deeper correction from continuing.
Given the strength shown at this support level, Crypto Candy maintains a strong price forecast: the market is expected to target $4,700, with the potential to reach a new ATH. This bullish bias, the analyst concludes, remains valid until the $3,600–$3,800 support zone is breached.
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