Ethereum (ETH) Drops Below $2,600 – Is a Rebound Imminent?

While sentiment in the Ethereum (ETH) market remains bearish as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap slides below $2,600, bears may face a surprise in the coming months.

Short-term chart analysis suggests that a deeper pullback could occur in the near future. After breaking below its downtrend line from the mid-December highs last week, Ethereum rejected a retest of this trendline on Tuesday.

This indicates an increased risk of a deeper drop back toward $2,000 in the coming weeks.

If Wednesday’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data comes in hotter than expected, this could serve as the next major catalyst for downside, as bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts are wound down.

Ethereum faces not only the potential for further declines in its USD value but also against Bitcoin (BTC).

Since the highly successful US Bitcoin ETF launch in 2024, the ETH/BTC pair has slumped from around 0.055 to current levels near 0.027.

If the crypto market faces headwinds in the coming weeks, Bitcoin dominance is set to rise as traders shift toward the relative safety of the world’s largest and oldest cryptocurrency.

However, while short-term selling pressure may remain elevated, traders would do well to continue accumulating ETH at these lower prices. Here is why Ethereum’s streak of consistent underperformance may be set to end soon.

Ethereum (ETH) Underperformance Won’t Last – Here’s Why

Analysts at 10x Research posited on Monday that Ethereum may be approaching oversold levels and could present an attractive short-term risk-to-reward opportunity.

Is #Ethereum Oversold?
With several catalysts on the horizon, is now the time to buy?
1-12) Ethereum’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped to 36%, a level where previous corrections have slowed, even as Bitcoin remains in a bull market. Unlike Bitcoin’s parabolic rallies… pic.twitter.com/vUErrViU6F

— 10x Research (@10x_Research) February 11, 2025

Meanwhile, analysts at Citi recently released a bullish research note on the coin, noting that its poor price performance this year stands in contrast to rising on-chain activity (including Total Value Locked or TVL), strong ETF inflows this year, and growing search interest.

Is #Ethereum Oversold?
With several catalysts on the horizon, is now the time to buy?
1-12) Ethereum’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped to 36%, a level where previous corrections have slowed, even as Bitcoin remains in a bull market. Unlike Bitcoin’s parabolic rallies… pic.twitter.com/vUErrViU6F

— 10x Research (@10x_Research) February 11, 2025

Citi also highlighted what could be one of Ethereum’s most significant bullish narratives at present: the Trump family (through their World Liberty Financial DeFi project) has been accumulating ETH and now holds over $200 million worth.

The arrival of the Trump administration in the White House has already kickstarted a new golden age for crypto in the USA, with bolstering the Ethereum ecosystem likely to be at the heart of plans given the Trump family’s investments in the coin.

Recent increases in ETH whale purchases, noted by X analyst Ted Pillows, may reflect a view among “smart money” investors that, as noted by 10x Research, the risk-to-reward at current ETH prices is excellent.

Ethereum whales are accumulating $ETH.
Why? They want to stay poor and lose money.
Epic Ethereum revenge rally is loading … pic.twitter.com/dGQBqK2yxy

— Ted (@TedPillows) February 11, 2025

It is also worth noting that ETH recently printed a golden cross on the weekly chart, which has historically proven to be a strong buy signal.

$ETH just printed a Golden Cross on the weekly chart!
Every previous Golden Cross led to significant upside.
The question is not if, but when Ethereum will deliver. pic.twitter.com/B0m3wOlfnW

— Merlijn The Trader (@MerlijnTrader) February 11, 2025

Crypto Rover, meanwhile, notes that ETH may be on the cusp of breaking out of a long-term pennant pattern that could see it rise 2-3 times from current price levels.

ETHEREUM LOOKS READY TO BREAK OUT BIG! pic.twitter.com/1Pio14bgPC

— Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) February 11, 2025

Ethereum Will Have Its Day

Ethereum has been plagued by concerns about competition from up-and-coming rivals like Solana, Sui, and its layer-2 ecosystem of blockchains such as Base and Arbitrum.

Due to technical flaws (such as relatively high gas fees and slower transactions), fears remain elevated that ETH will be left behind—Uniswap, the largest decentralized exchange operating on Ethereum, recently launched its own layer-1 protocol, illustrating these concerns.

This, combined with an underwhelming ETH launch in 2024, has resulted in lackluster price action while BTC surged to new record highs above $100,000.

This lackluster price action is itself contributing to fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) in a vicious cycle of price underperformance, FUD about price underperformance, and consequently, further price underperformance.

However, Ethereum still has much going for it, making it unwise to count the blockchain out.

As noted, it is a Trump family-owned coin, suggesting there will be efforts to bolster its ecosystem specifically under the Trump administration.

So let me get this straight
– Blackrock is planning to build on Ethereum and is putting hundreds of millions into $ETH. Fink wants to tokenize the entire financial system.
– Trump’s World Liberty Fi is also building on Ethereum, focusing heavily on DeFi, and has also bought up… pic.twitter.com/HnkSOYjS50

— The Gr0k Father (@TheGrokFather1) February 10, 2025

It is also BlackRock’s chosen coin—they have specifically mentioned they wish to focus on promoting their BTC and ETH ETFs rather than launching more for other coins.

This reflects the reality that Ethereum is by far the most secure and trusted smart-contract-enabled blockchain in the space and remains the dominant leader in DeFi.

According to DeFi Llama, Ethereum’s TVL is currently around $56.4 billion, representing a 53% share of total TVL in the sector.

Remember, unlike retail users, large players like BlackRock are less concerned about cheap and fast transactions—they prefer to know that the blockchain they are moving large amounts of assets on is highly secure and decentralized, which (outside of Bitcoin) arguably only Ethereum is.

Ethereum may be in the dumps right now. But with so much going for it behind the scenes, its day will certainly come soon.

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