Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest digital currency by market capitalization, is finding it hard to breach the key resistance at $4,300 as analysts warn that rising sell pressure may exhaust near-term prospects. Despite firm network fundamentals and continued investor demand, price action is showing signs of stagnation. It causes doubts about whether ETH can maintain the rally in 2025.
In the last week, Ethereum has moved between $4,150 and $4,280, never quite closing above $4,300. On Thursday morning, ETH cost about $4,245, down 0.8% from a day earlier. Big exchanges have seen less trading, which hints that people aren’t eager to buy at these prices.
Ethereum is experiencing “notable sell-side headwinds” as sellers are earning from its remarkable summer bull run. According to James Monroe, senior strategist at Digital Asset Research. “After rising from $3,200 in June to almost $4,300 this month, ETH is in a range now where long-term holder realization of gains has begun,” Monroe added.
Additional commentators reinforce that argument, referencing recent on-chain data that represents a spike in ETH inflows into centralized exchanges. It is a bullish indicator that investors are preparing to unwind positions. Glassnode, a blockchain analytics firm, noted a 12% week-to-week increase in flows of ETH into exchanges, the massive increase since April.
Although there are still bullish long-term prospects in Ethereum. There is also mixed sentiment in the near-term. The constant futures funding rates have reverted to normal levels, which suggests there is less influence in the market. Meanwhile, the ETH/BTC cross has declined slightly, indicating that traders may be moving funds into Bitcoin as a less-risky bet in uncertain market conditions.
“Ethereum remains the foundation of decentralized finance, NFTs, and tokenization, but the market is reminding us that rallies do not go in a directly ascending line,” explained Rebecca Lin, head of trading at Amber Digital.
Despite price hesitation, the principles of Ethereum are still robust. Daily active addresses are still more than 550,000, and transaction fees have stayed relatively stable by comparison to the explosive levels in 2022 and 2021. The scheduled Dencun upgrade is coming later in the year. It is also a cause for optimism, as the plan is to reduce gas fees further and increase network scalability through proto-danksharding.
BlackRock‘s tokenized fund on Ethereum exceeded $1.8 billion in assets under management earlier this week. It shows increasing adoption of Ethereum infrastructure in mainstream finance. Major DeFi protocols like Lido and Aave have seen increased total value locked (TVL) as Ethereum continues to lead as the foremost smart contract platform.
Technicians are monitoring near-term resistance at $4,300 and nearest support at $4,100. A clean breach over $4,300 could set up a trip to $4,500, but a breach below $4,100 could take ETH down toward $3,950.
Market players are gearing up for heightened volatility in the days ahead, with Ethereum below $4,300. Traders are advised to watch exchange inflows and overall market sentiment to gauge the probability of a pullback while long-term adoption trends remain bullish. Ethereum’s rise above $4,300 is on hold, and the marketplace is waiting to see if bulls or bears take control in the weeks to come.
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