Almost every major altcoin has taken a beating in recent months, and Ethereum is no exception. Its price has plunged to a 14-month bottom, hovering just above $1,500. Analysts now warn that it could be on the verge of a further slump, with some floating the idea of a crash to a multi-year low of around $1,000.
Red days may not be over
The prolonged bear market hasn’t been the only thing suppressing ETH’s valuation lately. As CryptoPotato reported, Hsiao-Wei Wang stepped down as the Ethereum Foundation’s co-executive director and board member. Shortly after, the entity reduced its workforce by 20%.
Following these negative developments, ETH’s price nosedived to just north of $1,500, while its market capitalization briefly tumbled below $183 billion. For a moment, Tether’s USDT flipped Ethereum to become the second-largest cryptocurrency. ETH has reclaimed its prestigious spot, albeit by a slim margin.
According to analyst Ali Martinez, the asset has been trading inside a crucial volume block between $1,584 and $1,683, where nearly 4 million coins have changed hands. He claimed that securing this specific area as support could open the door to the next major supply clusters at $1,980 and $2,079. At the same time, he warned that losing this baseline (as it happened just hours ago) might result in a deeper plunge to $1,237 and even $1,089.
Another X user, Ryker, shared an outlook predicting a drop to $1,260 before a potential rally above $3,000. Merlijn The Trader highlighted this forecast, noting that Ryker is the only trader followed by Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on X.
Earlier predictions
Earlier this month, X user Ted opined that ETH is more likely to reach its cycle bottom before Bitcoin. He claimed that most downside liquidity has been taken out, projecting a downfall to $1,300-$1,400. Another analyst, Niels, envisioned a drop to $1,200 sometime this year.
Recent whale activity reinforces the bearish outlook. User Max Crypto revealed that one large investor opened a $68 million short position on ETH with 23x leverage. Justin Wu outlined that four OG wallets have started dumping their holdings.
Whales are known as experienced market participants who may have inside information about upcoming events that could influence price. That’s why retail investors closely monitor their moves and might panic-sell as well. The combination of weak price action, leadership changes, layoffs, and whale betting suggests Ethereum’s troubles may not be over.
