Ethereum has been having a rough week. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap lost 17% of its value over the last seven days. This decline is part of a larger selloff across the entire cryptocurrency market. Ethereum has already fallen below the $1,700 mark and now the bears are setting their sights on the $1,500 psychological level.
The weekly chart looks extremely bearish. There’s a liquidity magnet around the $1,380 zone, which was a low from April 2025. It’s not certain if Ethereum will drop that far, but the technical indicators suggest the bears are firmly in control right now.
Tom Lee remains optimistic despite losses
Not everyone is pessimistic though. Bitmine’s chairman, Tom Lee, is still very optimistic about Ethereum’s long-term prospects. Bitmine is the largest corporate holder of Ethereum. However, because of the current bear market, the company is sitting on nearly $9 billion in unrealized losses.
Speaking at the Proof of Talk conference in Paris, Lee argued that Ethereum is being underestimated by the markets. He thinks the current pessimism could be a strong long-term buying opportunity. His main argument is that the next big phase of global economic activity will be driven by autonomous AI agents interacting in real time. He believes Ethereum is best positioned to serve as the base layer for this, thanks to its smart contract infrastructure and established developer ecosystem. For Lee, Ethereum is not just a financial asset but a settlement currency for machine-driven economic activity. He also pointed out that the Ethereum Foundation has reduced its holdings to a small fraction of the total supply. Despite all this, his price target of $250,000 seems almost impossibly optimistic given the current market conditions.
Ethereum price forecast: Bears extend the decline
At the time of writing on Friday, Ethereum is down another 4%, keeping its bearish bias intact as it extends a six-day losing streak. The weekly chart is clearly bearish. Ethereum is trading well below the 50-day EMA around $2,116 and the 100-day EMA near $2,223. This reinforces the overhead supply zone that traders are watching.
Momentum indicators on the daily chart also reinforce the bearish momentum. The RSI is deeply oversold at 29, and the MACD remains below its signal line. This suggests that downside pressure is dominating, even though there might be some intermittent corrective bounces.
At press time, Ethereum is trading at $1,682. It has already dropped below the February 6 low of $1,747. This leaves it vulnerable to a decline towards lower support levels at $1,538 and eventually the $1,380 zone. However, if the minor $1,630 support level holds, Ethereum could recover and target the initial resistance at $1,835. A decisive break above this level is needed before Ethereum can reclaim the $2,070 resistance area. For now, the path of least resistance still appears to be to the downside.
