Ethereum price declined on Friday, touching at an intra-day high of $3164 before shedding 0.85 to trade at $3128 at the time of writing. Traders have adopted a risk-off approach to crypto assets in the last one month, and that sentiment has not changed one week after the Bitcoin halving event. While some analysts attribute this to the fact that Bitcoin uncharacteristically peaked weeks before the halving, some say that the market rally is yet to come. Nevertheless, the ETH’s price is 0.54% lower on the weekly chart and has lost 14.12% of its value in the last month.
Curiously, this is the first time since September 2023 that ETH has registered a negative return on the monthly chart. This has brought uncertainty in Ethereum price prediction, as there’s the real possibility that a bearish sentiment could set in in the coming days. Ethereum’s 24-hour trading volume is down by 26% in the last 24 hours.
The current market sentiment has created an element of indecisiveness, with many traders holding on to their assets. This has led to marginal price changes in the market, with sideways movement defining the last week. For Ethereum, its wide divergence from Bitcoin since mid-March is telling. While Bitcoin rose steadily to register new all-time highs, Ethereum was miles away from reaching its ATH price of $4721.
It is also worth noting that the current market has muted institutional influence, unlike the 2020 post-halving rally, which triggered institutional participation in the form of crypto adoption and acquisition. Therefore, this might limit the upside for ETH and other crypto.
Technical analysis
ETHUSD signals neutral momentum, with the pivot at 3,136. The pair is likely to move up if the buyers keep the price above the pivot mark, with the next resistance likely to be at 3150. An extension of that control could enable them to break the resistance and potentially test 3169. Alternatively, movement below 3136 will signal control by the bears. ETH price will find support at 3,108, but an extension of control by the sellers will break the support, and could build the momentum to test 3092.
