Bitcoin moved to $17,000 on Wednesday, as markets continued to digest the U.S. consumer confidence report. Despite inflation falling in the largest economy, confidence among consumers dropped to its lowest level since July. Ethereum remained higher, edging closer to $1,300.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) briefly rose above $17,000 in today’s session, as traders reacted to the latest U.S. consumer confidence report.
Although confidence fell to a six month low, it was still lower than anticipated, which was a positive sign for the markets.
Following a low of $16,366. 66, BTC/USD rose to an intraday peak of $17,021. 67 earlier in the day.
However, following the breakout of $17,000, which has also been a long-term resistance level, some earlier bulls moved to secure gains, exiting their positions in the process.
As of writing, BTC is trading at $16,832. 07, with the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) tracking at 45. 72, below a ceiling of 46.00.
If the price trend continues in an upward direction and moves past this obstacle, bitcoin could continue today’s rally.
Ethereum
Like BTC, ethereum (ETH) also moved higher on Wednesday, as prices surged for a second success session.
ETH/USD hit a peak of $1,276. 55 earlier in today’s session, which comes less than 24-hours after trading at a low of $1,205.78.
As a result of today’s gains, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency hit its highest point since November 15.
Looking at the chart, the move has pushed the 10-day (red) moving average closer to its 25-day (blue) counterpart, with an upward crossover imminent.
In addition to this, the RSI is now tracking at 51. 27, which is above a key resistance level at the 50. 00 mark.
The target for ETH bulls appears to be the $1,300 level, which was last hit on November 11, when the coin was at a peak of $1,307.
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Do you expect ethereum to start December above $1,300? Please leave your comments below.
Eliman Dambell
Eliman has a unique perspective on market analysis. He was previously a retail trading teacher and brokerage director. He is currently a commentator on various asset classes including Crypto, Stocks, and FX.
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ETH’s daily chart remains bearish, with the price struggling to hold above the $1,900 support area after a prolonged downtrend. A breakdown of this level could reinforce further downside, potentially targeting the $1,600 support zone if selling pressure persists. The 200-day moving average remains well above, located around the $2,900 mark, signaling a strong bearish bias.
Meanwhile, the RSI is in the oversold territory, which suggests a short-term bounce could occur. A decisive break above $2,000 with strong volume could shift momentum toward $2,200, but failure to do so would likely confirm continued weakness in the short term.
The 4-Hour Chart
The 4-hour chart shows a breakout from the descending wedge pattern, indicating a potential trend reversal. However, price action remains trapped around the $1,900 resistance zone, with multiple rejections signaling a lack of strong bullish momentum.
The RSI is recovering but still below overbought conditions, suggesting room for further upside if ETH can close above this key resistance area. A confirmed breakout above $2,000 could trigger a rally toward $2,100-$2,200, while failure to hold above $1,900 may lead to a retest of the $1,800 support level. Volume confirmation will be crucial in determining whether this breakout sustains or results in another rejection.
The Ethereum exchange reserve chart shows a continuous decline in the amount of ETH held on exchanges, currently near multi-year lows at around 18.8 million. This suggests a long-term trend of accumulation, as fewer tokens are available for immediate selling. Typically, declining exchange reserves indicate that investors are moving ETH to self-custody or staking, reducing potential selling pressure.
Despite the price drop to $1,900, the lack of a significant spike in exchange reserves implies that panic selling might not be fully materialized, which supports the idea that long-term holders somehow remain confident. From a technical perspective, ETH is at a critical resistance zone near $1,900-$2,000, and if buyers step in, the supply squeeze could lead to a strong recovery.
However, if the asset fails to reclaim key levels and sentiment worsens, some ETH could flow back to exchanges, increasing selling pressure. Watching reserve trends alongside price action will be crucial in determining whether the current downtrend is nearing exhaustion or if further downside remains likely.
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Ethereum at a Crossroads: Will ETH Fall to $1,250?
The largest altcoin by market cap has been among the biggest underperformers during the late 2024/early 2025 bull run, which saw many assets, including BTC, chart fresh peaks.
ETH’s most recent performance has been even more painful, as the asset dumped to its lowest level since November 2023 at under $1,800. The question raised now by analysts is whether ETH will continue losing ground and dump to $1,250.
ETH at $1,250?
Remember 2021? Back then, ETH was charting massive gains and its price soared toward $5,000. In fact, speculations emerged about a potential event called the ‘flippening,’ in which Ethereum could surpass Bitcoin and become the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Fast-forward some three and a half years later and that seems as distant from reality as fiat money becoming disinflationary. ETH bottomed below $1,000 during the 2022 bear market but went on the offensive again two years later. It failed to decisively overcome the $4,000 target despite its numerous attempts to conquer it in 2024. The latest rejection came in mid-December.
Since then, ETH’s price has nosedived hard, which culminated (for now) earlier this week with a drop below $1,800. As such, Ethereum not only erased all the gains registered after Trump’s presidential election victory but even plunged to its lowest levels since November 2023.
According to Ali Martinez, a crypto analyst with over 130,000 followers on X, the asset’s price drop meant that it had broken out of a years-long parallel channel, which could spell further trouble. In fact, he forecasted a slump to $1,250 – a level not seen in over two years.
CryptoPotato has repeatedly reported in recent weeks Ethereum whales’ predominantly bullish behavior. Recall that within a 48-hour period alone, they accumulated 1.1 million ETH, which is nearly 1% of the total supply. At the prices back then, it was worth over $2 billion in USD.
Martinez brought another chart showing that these large entities acquired more than 420,000 ETH in the following five days, valued at $800 million at today’s prices. Such massive accumulations should benefit the underlying asset as they decrease the immediate selling pressure. However, ETH’s price is yet to stage a notable recovery as it still sits below $2,000.
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Why Is Ethereum (ETH) Falling Without Major Liquidations? ITB Breaks It Down
The price of ether (ETH) has been steadily declining for months, with this plunge taking a turn for the worse recently. However, the market intelligence firm IntoTheBlock found that the latest dip did not trigger huge liquidations compared to previous events.
According to an IntoTheBlock tweet, ETH liquidations have remained relatively moderate despite the cryptocurrency dropping to levels not seen in more than a year.
ETH Is Dipping Without Major Liquidations
IntoTheBlock says the moderate liquidations can be traced to a significant decline in high-risk loans across lending platforms. Investors are taking a risk-off stance as they apply more caution in their positions. This is likely driven by macro concerns regarding potential global tariff tensions.
The United States has been knee-deep in economic uncertainty for a while after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs against its major trade partners, including China, Canada, and Mexico.
Although some industry analysts believe the trade tariffs will positively impact cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin (BTC), in the long term, the market has experienced high volatility since Trump made the announcements earlier last month. On the day Trump imposed the tariffs, about $400 billion was wiped out from the market, with the overall capitalization falling by at least 11% within 24 hours.
According to CoinMarketCap data, ETH has nosedived from the $2,800 level to at least $1,760 since early February. The second-largest crypto asset has been struggling, and just this week, it fell by roughly 13% after failing to hold a support level above $2,000. The coin is now trading at levels not seen since 2023. It was worth $1,900 at the time of writing.
ETH Price Outlook
CryptoPotatoreported that ETH buyers have retreated and found support at the $1,800 level. However, it remains uncertain if ETH has bottomed and if this support level will be strong enough to reduce the selling pressure and allow the asset to start a recovery.
At its current price, ether is roughly 60% down from its mid-December high of $3,990. Unfortunately, further down pressure could drag the asset to $1,600. These possible scenarios, coupled with Ethereum’s underperformance against Bitcoin, have fueled investor caution.
Meanwhile, IntoTheBlock discovered a few days ago that ETH holders may be seeing this dip as a buying opportunity and are loading up on the asset. This is seen in the amount of ETH that left crypto exchanges last week—$1.8 billion worth of assets, marking the highest weekly amount since December 2022.
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