Admittedly, for crypto traders, most of whom were expecting a moonshot in Q4 2024, Ethereum has been nothing but a disappointment. While Bitcoin spiked to over $100,000, even briefly hitting $109,000, the second most valuable coin couldn’t even break and hold $4,000. What’s worse, after peaking in December 2024, bears have had the upper hand, forcing prices lower. Several factors are to blame, including increasing competition and users opting to trade meme coins on Solana instead of Ethereum. The endorsement of Solana by the Trumps also makes the possibility of an ETH bull run a challenge.
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Traders Expect ETH to Violently Break Higher
All the same, some traders are upbeat. On X, there are those who believe Ethereum is not only preparing to break higher, shaking off the weakness of this week, but when it does, the leg up will be nothing but “explosive.”
The analyst specifically pointed out favorable technicals, and the fact that prices have been moving inside a rising wedge.
Now near the apex of the wedge, a breakout could lift the coin to a fresh high, setting up a firm foundation for trend continuation.
In the analyst’s assessment, the current ETH market structure is “strikingly” similar to the BTC setup that took it to fresh all-time highs.
Chiming in, another analyst said ETH is ready to teleport, and this time, the destination is $8,000.
It also seems there is a consensus that if Ethereum does break out, the rally will be unstoppable. By another analyst’s assessment, the coin could easily 7X after that.
Optimistic as traders and holders are, there isn’t much to read from the price charts. The coin is printing lower lows and risks plunging below Q4 2024 lows of $2,000. If sellers jump back, confirming the losses of this week, then the probability of further sell-offs will be high.
The only time this outlook changes is once ETH breaks $3,500, and ideally, $4,000. Only then can buyers prepare for “explosive” gains since no one will want to miss the leg up.
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Ethereum Facing Stiff Competition Despite Upgrades
Ahead of this, Ethereum developers are keen on scaling the mainnet.
The team recently increased the block gas limit from the previous 30 million gas units to 31 million, for the first time since 2021 when it was doubled from 15 million to 30 million. This increase means every block on Ethereum can now handle more transactions and smart contract executions.
For the first time in Ethereum PoS, validators have voted to increase the gas limit and it's happening now. 🎉
We saw the last gas limit increase with the London hardfork in August 2021, still PoW. pic.twitter.com/JT8jdcWcQm
— Toni Wahrstätter ⟠ (@nero_eth) February 4, 2025
The block gas limit increment is a form of on-chain scaling, but it remains to be seen whether the network will keep up with Solana.
JP Morgan analysts believe Ethereum will continue to face intense competition from rival networks, including its layer-2 solutions like Arbitrum and Base.
Combined with ETH’s relatively weak narrative as a store of value, the coin could struggle for momentum.
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