Ether (ETH) prices rose above $1,700 after 16 days of sales pressure caused by macroeconomic uncertainty and a sharp decline in on-chain activity. Despite the rebound, Ether has not performed the Altcoin market at 23% since the start of the year.
Some traders have argued that ETH is set in a “intergenerational” bull by providing a “truly” decentralized, unauthorized financial system, but is that really true?
Unlike its competitors such as Solana (Sol), Tron (TRX), and BNB (BNB), Ether was one of the few major cryptocurrencies to not reach a new all-time high in 2025.
Some critics argue that by moving away from proof of work, Ethereum removed the competitive advantage that he once competed over his rivals.
Ethereum rate drop signal ETH price weakness
Ultimately, ether could be better than its competitors, even for a short period of time, and influencers seeking “the bottom of the generation” celebrate predictions despite the lack of a strong basic to support lasting price growth. However, given the 95% drop in Ethereum fees since January, the likelihood of an immediate ETH surge appears to be low.
ETH is inflation due to low demand for data processing in the Ethereum network. This is because the built-in combustion mechanism is not sufficient to balance the new coins issued to cover the staking rewards.
Despite being a clear leader in Total Value Lock (TVL), traders are generally not interested in this metric. This is because there is no high demand for the Ethereum network or it has not led to an increase in ETH rarity.
As a result, even if Ethereum’s foundations improve, optimism among ETH owners is declining, but competitors in particular, particularly Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) investors are hoping to approve spot exchange funds (ETFs) in the US. Currently, US SPOTETFs are only available in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), so additional offerings could reduce the potential institutional demand for Altcoins.
In addition to concerns, US-listed spot ether ETF saw a net spill of $10 million between April 21 and April 23, while similar BTC equipment experienced a record-breaking influx.
History shows that ETH prices rise rarely lasts long
Historical evidence does not support permanent outperformance compared to competitors that reduce the probability of sustainable ETH rally.
Related: Bitcoiner Planb Slams ETH: ‘Concentrated & Premming’ Shit
For example, when ETH prices fell below $1,100, Ether’s market share in AltCoin’s capitalization reached a low point of approximately 26.5% in June 2022. After a swift rally to $2,000 by August 2022, momentum faded, and ETH prices fell below $1,200 within three months. This sudden revision could have made many investors irritated as ETH had to wait eight months for $2,000 in April 2023.
A similar pattern occurred in April 2021, when the market share of etheric altcoins bottomed at 26.8%. ETH prices then rose from $2,100 to $4,200 by May 2021, and just below $2,000 the following month. Again, traders who bought near the top of the cycle had to wait six months just to recover their investment. This history has taught ether traders to make profits quickly.
It is difficult to identify what triggered the previous etherbull execution, especially as the story has moved from utility to NFT markets, artificial intelligence, memecoin and more recently to RWA tokenization. While some influencers believe in strong ETH momentum, others have warned that there will be an additional 15% drop compared to Bitcoin’s performance.
Ultimately, historical evidence does not support a permanent ETH price rallies, even if it bottoms out compared to the broader Altcoin market capitalization.
