Ethereum (ETH) continues to struggle to break the $2,700 level, even as Bitcoin remains resilient. However, the broader crypto market and top altcoins are experiencing a rebound. Traders seem to be ignoring concerns about China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence advances and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Although the price performance of the largest altcoin remains underwhelming, data provider Cryptoeq suggests that this could change as sentiment among traders becomes more positive.
Ethereum’s holder count has been steadily increasing, according to on-chain data from intelligence tracker Santiment. As of Tuesday, the number of Ethereum holders reached 138.98 million, with nearly 500,000 new holders in the past week. This supports a bullish outlook for the altcoin.
The Network realized profit/loss metric, which measures the net profit or loss of Ether tokens moved daily, showed significant negative spikes between January 30 and February 8. A large number of traders selling ETH at a loss is typically seen as a sign of capitulation. This may indicate that Ethereum traders are exchanging their ETH for stablecoins or other cryptocurrencies, which could signal a potential price recovery in the near future.
The supply of Ethereum held by whales or large wallet investors, excluding exchange wallets, has increased by nearly half a million ETH tokens in February 2025.
Metrics from derivatives traders show a shift in sentiment towards “bullish.” The funding rate across derivatives exchanges has turned positive after several negative spikes. The total open interest in Ether derivatives contracts has reached $8.03 billion, according to Santiment data. Derivatives traders anticipate a recovery in the Ethereum price.
While whales off exchanges continue to accumulate more Ether, institutional interest in Spot Ether ETFs has shown no signs of growth. This supports a bearish outlook for Ethereum, indicating that it may face challenges in terms of institutional adoption compared to Bitcoin.
Experts believe that Ethereum’s value proposition remains strong. Marcin Kazmierczak, Co-founder & COO of blockchain startup RedStone, stated that while ETH’s price may fluctuate, its fundamental value proposition is remarkably strong. The Ethereum network has evolved into a sophisticated financial ecosystem, processing over $30 billion in daily transactions across its Layer 2 networks.
Data from The Block shows that the percentage of ETH staked in Ethereum’s staking contract has declined to 27%, returning to levels last seen in July 2024. However, 33.5 million ETH remains staked, ensuring the security of the Ethereum network.
Despite the shifting focus of institutions to Layer 2 protocols or Bitcoin, Ethereum remains critical to the DeFi and NFT network it supports. The changing landscape of Ether staking presents both opportunities and challenges for the network.
Ruslan Lienkha, Chief of Markets at YouHodler, believes that while the short-term outlook for Ethereum may be bearish, the price is approaching a strong long-term support level. This suggests that institutional investors see it as an attractive entry point for long-term accumulation. Historically, such accumulation by institutional players often precedes a market recovery.
With other major cryptocurrencies reaching new all-time highs, ETH may be poised for a significant upward movement once market sentiment shifts.