Ethereum Struggles with Lack of Pro Trader Enthusiasm: Key Resistance at $1,865
Ethereum (ETH) is currently maintaining its position above the $1,800 mark, despite a 1.5% dip in its price over the past 24 hours. While the second-largest cryptocurrency ETH/USD has shown some recovery from its recent lows, a closer look at derivatives markets reveals a lack of strong bullish conviction among professional traders.
This cautious sentiment, coupled with recent ETF outflows, suggests that a significant upward surge might not be imminent, although technical analysis highlights key resistance levels that could trigger a rally if breached.
Institutional Investors Express Caution as Ether ETF Outflows Accelerate
With ETH-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) suffering notable capital outflows, institutional attitude toward Ethereum seems to be growingly negative. Ethereum ETFs had a significant net outflow of $51.3 million on April 2, 2025; ETHA and ETHE each contributed withdrawals of $20.2 million and $31.1 million respectively.
Futures markets also reflect this. Currently hovering around 4%, the premium on Ethereum futures relative to spot markets nevertheless stays below the neutral 5% barrier. This indicator implies professional traders lack faith in a significant near-term ETH comeback.
With the 25% delta skew reading at 7%, the options market also supports this wary perspective. Although this shows progress from the 9% level observed on March 31, it still demonstrates notable risk aversion among market players. The high cost of hedging implies whales expect some more ETH negative impact.
Ethereum Ecosystem Fundamentals Show Resilience Despite Declining Revenue
Ethereum’s network foundations show continuous resiliency even with price challenges. With $49 billion in total value locked (TVL), the network maintains its dominant position in decentralized finance (DeFi) while stablecoin holdings on Ethereum are approaching an all-time high of $124.5 billion.
With a 49% decline noted between January and March, the diminishing income from distributed apps (DApps) offers a challenge, though. Along with the deflated memecoin market, which has affected the larger DApps ecosystem, many observers blame part of Ethereum’s price drop on this decrease in network activity.
Competing Networks Gain Ground as ETH Underperforms
Competitive pressures from other Layer-1 solutions keep piling on. After a 33% drop in 2024, Ethereum has underperformed versus Bitcoin for four straight years losing 38% against BTC in 2025. Layer-2 networks and rivals like Solana (SOL) have drawn a lot of interest; SOL beats ETH by 15% this year.
Still, new evidence indicates Ethereum has an advantage in some important benchmarks. DefiLlama claims that in March, Ethereum exceeded Solana in monthly decentralized exchange (DEX) volume for the first time since November, recording $64.7 billion against Solana’s $52.6 billion. Leading with around $9 billion in weekly trade volume, Ethereum’s flagship DEX Uniswap keeps ahead.
ETH/USD Technical Analysis Show Potential Reversal Pattern Despite Bearish Trends
With Ethereum’s relative strength index (RSI) now at 40.43, technical analysts are intently observing a possible departure from price movement. While ETH has been producing declining lows in price, the RSI has started to show higher lows—a typical pattern sometimes preceding trend reversals.
Market watchers watching Ethereum’s price swings point to “the declining trendline connecting lower price points establishing critical support between $1,550 and $1,600.” This zone has past been a strong barrier preventing more market drops.
Recent price movement indicates Ethereum trying to recover waves over $1,880 but failing constantly to keep momentum. ETH reaches a local high of $1,955 before declining; a noteworthy resistance level has developed at $1,950. Ethereum has to cross immediate obstacles at $1,865 and $1,890 before aiming at the psychologically significant $2,000 barrier if bulls are to recover control.
Ethereum Price Prediction: $1,400 Floor or New All-Time Highs?
Regarding Ethereum’s short-term future, market experts still disagree. Like Klejdi, some technical analysts see more negative pressure and caution ETH might drop to as low as $1,400 before finding a strong bottom. With rumors of long-term Ethereum whales starting to dump holdings they have maintained since 2017, on-chain data reinforces this caution.
Other analysts, meanwhile, have a positive longer-term outlook. With possible price objectives between $7,000 and $10,000, Crypto Patel advises ETH holders to find Q2 to Q4 of this year “life-changing”. Analyst Virtual Bacon meanwhile expects Ethereum to “catch up fast” once the Federal Reserve changes its monetary policy.
The market seems to be at a turning point as Ethereum keeps grouping around the $1,800 level. Technical indications point to a reversal’s potential, but institutional flows and derivatives measures show traders’ continuous caution. For now, the $1,550-$1,600 support zone is a vital battlefield that will probably define Ethereum’s path in the next weeks.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
See More
Sidebar rates
Related Posts
Save
Join 350 000+ traders receiving Free Trading Signals
Alerts
Rates
Calendar
Signals