ETH Tests $3.2K But US Macro And Other Hurdles Remain

Key takeaways:

• Ether trades close to $3,200 as weaker community utilization and US financial uncertainty restrict its worth upside.

• Layer-2 networks drive most Ethereum exercise, however cheaper rival blockchains scale back the possibility of Ether reclaiming $4,000 quickly.

Ether (ETH) worth has repeatedly did not maintain ranges above $3,300 over the previous 60 days, main merchants to query whether or not a sturdy bullish momentum is achievable in 2026. Regardless of the Ethereum community rolling out vital upgrades and sustaining its main place when it comes to deposits, buyers fear that the probabilities of reclaiming the $4,000 degree stay low.

Ether’s efficiency since November has carefully tracked the broader cryptocurrency market capitalization. In consequence, the dearth of optimism seems to be pushed extra by weaker total decentralized software (DApps) utilization than by points particular to the Ethereum ecosystem. No matter whether or not merchants’ issues stem from broader financial dangers, ETH worth upside within the brief time period appears restricted.

Ether tracks broader crypto market amid weaker software utilization

No matter the components influencing bullish crypto buyers, merchants have proven much less curiosity in DApps, as mirrored by declining exercise on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). In line with DefiLlama, mixture DEX volumes over the previous two weeks totaled $150.4 billion, down 55% from the $340 billion all-time excessive recorded in January 2025.

Ethereum seven-day DEX volumes have hung close to $9 billion after peaking at $27.8 billion in October 2025. This 65% pullback pushed Ethereum community charges down 87% to $2.6 million, from $21.3 million three months earlier. Even so, the Ethereum ecosystem continues to dominate, holding a few 50% share of DEX exercise when combining information from Base, Arbitrum, Polygon and different layer-2 options.

Ethereum’s lead in complete worth locked (TVL) is robust proof of institutional investor desire, whilst opponents akin to Tron, Solana and BNB Chain generate greater community charges. Whereas some market contributors argue that Ethereum has failed to totally monetize its dominance in good contract deposits, this end result is essentially intentional and stems from its scalability technique constructed round rollups.

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The variety of transactions on Solana exceeds the mixed complete of its prime 10 opponents, highlighting the community’s reliance on intensive validation processes and a semi-centralized growth construction led by Solana Labs. In line with Nansen information, Ethereum processed 54.4 million transactions over a 30-day interval, whereas its layer-2 community Base recorded greater than 600 million transactions over the identical timeframe.

Ether’s two-month stretch buying and selling under $3,200 has been significantly difficult for firms that raised debt or fairness to construct ETH reserves. Bitmine Immersion (BMNR US), for instance, at present holds $13.2 billion worth of Ether, whereas its shares commerce at a 9% low cost to the worth of these holdings, based mostly on CoinGecko information.

It stays unclear what catalyst could shift momentum again in ETH’s favor, particularly as rival networks present comparable DApps and performance for common customers, usually with decrease friction attributable to base-layer scalability. Ether’s path again to $4,000 and past relies upon closely on renewed demand for blockchain purposes and broader cryptocurrency danger urge for food amid ongoing uncertainty within the US financial system.