Ethereum (ETH) is down almost 10% on February 25. This drop has pushed its market cap below $300 billion, marking the first time it has fallen to this level since early November 2024.

Multiple indicators, including RSI and moving averages, show bearish momentum. As ETH navigates this downturn, market watchers are looking for signs of either a continued decline or a potential reversal.

RSI Shows an Oversold State for Ethereum

ETH’s RSI is currently at 29 after dropping to 21.3 a few hours ago. This marks the first time since February 3 that ETH has entered oversold territory, indicating intense selling pressure.

RSI measures the speed and change of price movements, helping traders identify overbought or oversold conditions. An RSI below 30 typically signals that an asset is oversold, while above 70 suggests it is overbought.

With ETH’s RSI at 29, it indicates that selling momentum may be exhausted, potentially setting the stage for a short-term rebound. However, oversold conditions do not always guarantee an immediate price recovery.

If bearish sentiment persists, ETH could continue to face downward pressure before any significant reversal occurs. Conversely, if buyers step in at these oversold levels, a relief rally could follow.

ETH Whales Dropped After Reaching Its Highest Levels In One Year

The number of ETH whales – addresses holding at least 1,000 ETH – steadily increased throughout the last month, peaking at 5,828 on February 22, the highest level since February 2024. However, this upward trend has recently reversed, with the number now slightly declining to 5,812.

This shift suggests that some large holders have started to reduce their positions, potentially contributing to the recent selling pressure on ETH.

Tracking ETH whales is crucial because they control a significant portion of the total supply, influencing price movements with their buying and selling activities. When the number of whales increases, it often indicates accumulation, which can support price stability or even drive a rally. Conversely, a decrease suggests distribution, potentially leading to increased selling pressure.

The recent decline in ETH whale numbers could indicate cautious sentiment, possibly signaling short-term weakness.

However, the overall number remains relatively high, suggesting that while some whales are offloading, a substantial number still hold their positions, which could help cushion any sharp declines.

Ethereum Could Drop Below $2,200 Soon

Ethereum price recently formed a death cross, where the short-term moving average crossed below the long-term moving average, signaling a bearish trend.

Following this pattern, Ethereum’s price dropped below $2,500, reflecting increased selling pressure. If this downtrend continues, ETH could decline further to $2,159, falling below $2,200 for the first time since December 2023. This death cross indicates that bearish momentum is dominating, and caution is warranted as downward pressure could persist.

However, if Ethereum manages to reverse this trend, it could attempt to break through the resistance at $2,551. Successfully overcoming this level could pave the way for a rally toward $2,850.

For this reversal to occur, buying pressure would need to increase, pushing the short-term moving average back above the long-term one. Until that happens, the death cross suggests that the bearish sentiment remains strong.

A new report from Taraxa claims that many leading blockchain projects have dramatically overestimated their throughput. The study shows that major blockchain networks like Sonic, Solana, and Aptos have a significant gap between theoretical TPS (transaction per second) and the actual max TPS on the mainnet.

The findings suggest a massive overestimation of network efficiency and speed for these networks.

Most Blockchains Overestimate Efficiency

Taraxa, a Layer-1 blockchain, conducted an extensive analysis of several leading blockchains. It’s evident that most networks publicize new advances in their blockchain’s throughput, but many of these tests are conducted in ideal conditions. This study wished to observe how the most ‘bullish’ claims compare to regular operating conditions.

“Investors, developers, and users deserve transparency. The blockchain industry has long been obsessed with theoretical performance figures, but numbers generated in a lab mean little if they can’t be replicated in real-world conditions,” Taraxa co-founder Steven Pu said in an exclusive press release shared with BeInCrypto.

This investigation sought to assess these real-world conditions through a metric called “TPS per dollar.” Taraxa compared a blockchain’s transactions per second to the actual cost of running a validator node and used that to determine actual throughput.

This would be a more accurate way to determine how well these firms can live up to expectations.

Case in point, the study looked at the highest-ever recorded throughput on several blockchain projects, with a few important caveats. Permissioned and sharded networks were excluded, and some specific transactions (like voting transactions) were discarded to avoid number inflation.

Then, these figures were compared to developer-provided TPS claims:

The results of this test revealed extremely high exaggeration. Sonic (formerly Fantom) reported blockchain throughput over 100x its actual capabilities, but the industry average was 20x. The L1 blockchain space is full of fierce competition, providing a clear incentive for this systematic inflation.

“Our research also shows that many networks require expensive hardware just to achieve modest transaction rates, which is neither technically impressive nor decentralized. By focusing on verifiable data from live networks, we can shift the conversation toward meaningful performance metrics,” Pu added.

Comparing TPS to dollar costs also provided interesting data. Solana had the highest costs by far, but it used these resources efficiently to maintain a high blockchain throughput. Taraxa also claimed that it had the best ratio in the entire industry by wide margins, which may impact its reasons for conducting the study and using this metric.

Regardless of the firm’s desire to market its own capabilities, blockchain throughput estimations seem heavily inflated across the whole industry. Taraxa has been analyzing several crucial Web3 sectors, such as the AI industry, and its results seem valuable.

Hopefully, some hard data here will encourage more realistic reporting from these projects.

The SEC dropped its investigation into Uniswap Labs, causing the UNI token to briefly jump while bearish conditions still dominate the market. Despite the volatility, it has been a positive month for the decentralized exchange, as it launched the v4 upgrade and Unichain mainnet this month.

Uniswap’s CEO Hayden Adams claimed that TradFi regulations are not applicable to the crypto space and that new ones are required. Now that another enforcement case has been dropped, pressure is building to create these friendlier regulations.

SEC Vs Uniswap Ends Without Any Enforcement

When the SEC sent a Wells Notice to Uniswap last year, it kicked off a year-long investigation. The Commission claimed it was an operated unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency and issued an unregistered security.

In response, the industry rallied behind it. This probe, which was considered integral to the future of DeFi, has now been dropped by the SEC.

“This is a huge win, not just for Uniswap Labs but for DeFi as a whole. I’m grateful that the new SEC leadership is taking a more constructive approach, and I look forward to working with Congress and regulators to help create rules that actually make sense for DeFi. The best days for DeFi are ahead,” claimed Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams.

The quiet end to the Uniswap case is part of a new trend at the SEC. Since President Trump’s term began last month, the Commission has been dropping crypto enforcement suits left and right. In the last few days, it dropped a major suit against Coinbase, while ending investigations into Opensea and Robinhood.

Now that the SEC has dropped its case, Uniswap’s UNI token can breathe a little easier. Over the past month, its price has suffered a 30% drop. Even the long-awaited v4 update and the Unichain launch did not have any notable impact.

Despite the stale price movements, UNI jumped briefly after the SEC’s announcement, indicating some positive outlook. Also, the token’s daily trading volume surged over 140% today, according to CoinMarketCap data.

A New Future for Crypto Enforcement

It will be interesting to see how this development fits into a broader mosaic of federal crypto policy.

In his statement, Adams claimed that “decentralized technology and self-custody are inherently different” from TradFi and that they should be held to different regulations. This is a common refrain, and the SEC is working to receive constructive industry feedback.

To sum it up, The SEC is dropping a lot of enforcement cases made under Gary Gensler’s interpretation of the law, and Uniswap is part of that trend.

However, as the Commission changes its focus, it also puts pressure on developing this constructive new regulatory environment. Crypto has a real chance to chart its own future, but it must comply with the new rules it helps create.