Ethereum is grappling with a critical resistance level at $3,659 as momentum appears to wane. After a period of steady gains, the cryptocurrency has moved into a consolidation phase, with bulls struggling to push it higher. The pause has raised questions about whether Ethereum’s rally is losing steam or simply gearing up for its next big move.

This article aims to analyze ETH’s current consolidation below the $3,659 resistance level, focusing on its implications for market pressure. It will also determine whether ETH can regain its upsurge or if fading strength could lead to further declines through technical indicators, support zones, and potential breakout scenarios.

What Key Indicators Say About Ethereum’s Price

ETH is displaying strong bearish momentum on the 4-hour chart, with its price attempting a move toward the $3,360 level and the crucial 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). This key level could act as dynamic support, determining the next move. A rebound may follow a successful defense, while a break below could lead to more drops and test lower support zones.

An analysis of the 4-hour chart shows that ETH’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped to 56%, down from the overbought zone. This decline signals a reduction in buying pressure, suggesting a possible shift in market sentiment. As the RSI pulls back, it indicates that bullish sentiment may be fading, and the market could be heading for consolidation or reversal. If the RSI continues to fall, it would confirm increasing selling pressure, potentially leading to deeper corrections.

Related Reading

Despite staying above the daily 100-day SMA, Ethereum is showing bearish signs, with its price steadily declining toward the $3,360 level. While the 100-day SMA offers some support, the downward movement implies that selling pressure is dominant, weakening the bullish momentum. A continued decline could test the strength of the $3,360 support, and a break below it might lead to further losses, signaling a deeper market pullback.

Finally, the 1-day RSI indicates growing negative pressure on ETH since the signal line fell back to 65%, aiming to move toward the 50% threshold. As the RSI continues to drop toward this threshold, it shows that sellers are gaining dominance, possibly paving the way for additional declines unless buying pressure can return to shift the sentiment.

Will Ethereum Find New Support Or Sink Further?

A key level to monitor is $3,360, which has historically served as a strong support zone. If Ethereum can hold above this level, it could trigger a rebound, pushing the price toward the next resistance at the $3,659 mark.

Related Reading

However, should the price fail to maintain above $3,360, ETH may experience a notable downswing, with $3,051 emerging as the next key support range. A break below this support may open the door to additional downward movement, targeting even lower support zones.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com

Keshav has been writing for many years, first as a hobbyist and later as a freelancer. He has experience working in a variety of niches, even fiction at one point, but the cryptocurrency industry has been the longest he has been attached to.

In terms of official educational qualifications, Keshav holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from one of the premier institutes of India, the University of Delhi (DU). He started the degree with an aim of eventually making a career in Physics, but the onset of COVID led to a shift in plans. The virus meant that the college classes had to be delivered in the online-mode and with it came free time for him to explore other passions.

Initially only seeking to make some beer money, Keshav unexpectedly landed clients offering real projects, after which there was no looking back. Writing was something he had always enjoyed and to be able to do it for a living was like a dream come true.

Keshav completed his Physics degree in 2022 and has been focusing on his writing career since, but that doesn’t mean his passion for Physics has ended. He eventually plans to re-enter university to obtain a masters degree in the same field, but perhaps only to satiate his own interest rather than for using it as a means to find employment..

Keshav has found blockchain and its concepts fascinating ever since he started going down the rabbit-hole back in 2020. On-chain analysis in particular has been something he likes to research more about, which is why his NewsBTC pieces tend to involve it in some form.

Being of the science background, Keshav likes if concepts are clear and consistent, so he generally explains the indicators he talks about in a bit of detail so that the readers can perhaps come out having understood and learnt something new.

As for hobbies, Keshav is super into football, anime, and videogames. He enjoys football not only as a watcher, but also as a player. For games, Keshav generally tends towards enjoying singleplayer adventures, with EA FC (formerly FIFA) being the only online game he is active in. Though, perhaps due to being ultra-focused on the game, he is today a semi-pro on the EA FC scene, regularly participating in tournaments and sometimes even taking back prize money.

Because of his enthusiasm for anime and games, he also self-learned Japanese along the way to consume some of the untranslated gems out there. The skill didn’t merely remain as just a hobby, either, as he put it to productive use during his exploration for small-time gigs at the start of COVID, fulfilling a couple of Japanese-to-English translation jobs.

Keshav is also big into fitness, with agility and acceleration-related workouts making a big part of his program due to the relevance they have in football. On top of that, he also has a more traditional strength based program for the gym, which he does to maintain an overall fitness level of his body.

Ethereum is finally seeing a notable rebound in its price as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, which continues to break through significant resistance levels.

Following its upward trajectory, seeing a nearly 10% increase in the past week, discussions about Ethereum potentially reaching a new all-time high by the year’s end have gained momentum.

Notably, aligning with the ongoing ETH rally is renewed interest in Ethereum futures, with market metrics pointing to a bullish sentiment among traders.

Related Reading

More Room For Growth?

A CryptoQuant analyst known as ShayanBTC recently shared insights into the ongoing rally in Ethereum, emphasizing the role of funding rates—a crucial metric in futures trading. Funding rates reflect the sentiment of traders and indicate whether the market is predominantly bullish or bearish.

According to Shayan, Ethereum’s funding rates have seen a noticeable uptick in recent weeks, suggesting that demand for long positions is growing.

Despite this bullish sentiment, the analyst mentioned that funding rates remain below the peak of Ethereum’s previous all-time high of $4,900, signaling that “it has not yet entered an overheated state.”

Meanwhile, while indicative of bullish sentiment, funding rates also act as a warning sign for potential market corrections. Historically, sharp increases in funding rates have been followed by sudden market corrections or liquidation cascades.

However, Shayan notes that Ethereum’s current funding rates are still manageable, implying that the market has more room to grow before such risks become critical.

Ethereum Market Performance And Outlook

Ethereum is currently experiencing an upward trajectory, posting notable double-digit gains of roughly 15.6% over the past two weeks. This bullish performance has propelled ETH to break through the critical $3,500 resistance level, setting its sights on the next major resistance at the $4,000 mark.

Currently, Ethereum is trading at $3,563, reflecting a 1.3% increase in the last 24 hours. However, this price represents a slight pullback from its 24-hour high of $3,682 recorded earlier today.

Additionally, Ethereum’s current price is just 26.78% below its all-time high of $4,878, highlighting its gradual recovery within the market.

Related Reading

Regardless of the bullish sentiment, Coinglass data shows that in the past 24 hours alone, 98,389 traders have been liquidated, with the total liquidations coming in at $278.03 million.

Out of this total amount of liquidations, Ethereum accounts for roughly $63.33 million, with $40 million of this liquidation coming from short positions and $23.3 million from long positions.

Amid the current price performance from Ethereum, the renowned crypto analyst known as Ali on X has reiterated his target for ETH. Ali said the mid-term target remains $6,000 and long-term target $10,000.

Our mid-term target for #Ethereum $ETH remains $6,000… Long-term target: $10,000! https://t.co/X4lodGGIVY pic.twitter.com/siQsJzelzE

— Ali (@ali_charts) November 27, 2024

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView