Is Ethereum Gearing Up for a Major Move? Analysts Split on What’s Next

[Ben Graham]

Ethereum’s price has experienced moderate declines over the past week, dropping around 5% after a period of notable gains in previous months. At the time of writing, ETH is trading near $3,633, fluctuating between the $3,500 and $3,700 range over the past day.

This price movement follows a broader market cooling, with many traders engaging in profit-taking after Ethereum’s earlier upward trend. Recent on-chain and derivatives market data suggest that Ethereum may be heading into a consolidation phase.

Derivatives Market Data Signals Selling Pressure

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost shared an outlook indicating increased selling pressure and potential short-term weakness in the ETH futures market.

The analyst highlighted that despite several attempts to breach the $4,000 resistance level, Ethereum has yet to break through, indicating possible market hesitancy at current levels.

Darkfost emphasized that the behavior of the futures market has shifted notably over the past few weeks. According to data from Binance, Ethereum’s taker buy/sell ratio has dropped to 0.87, one of the lowest levels observed this year.

A ratio below 1 typically indicates that sell orders are dominating over buy orders, suggesting that traders are either closing long positions or opening shorts. The analyst noted that this trend began around July 18 and has remained mostly negative since then, limiting upward momentum.

Additionally, the seven-day and 30-day simple moving averages (SMAs) have started to trend downward, which could be a sign of slowing market momentum.

Binance continues to hold the largest share of ETH futures open interest among exchanges, making sentiment on this platform particularly influential. With sellers currently exerting more control, the data suggests a potential continuation of this consolidation phase until buying activity strengthens.

Mixed Views on Ethereum’s Longer-Term Outlook

While near-term market data points to a challenging period for Ethereum, some analysts maintain a positive longer-term outlook. A recent post by Titan of Crypto, a well-followed market commentator on X, projected a potential price target of $8,000.

According to Titan of Crypto, Ethereum’s price structure is forming a large monthly triangle pattern that could eventually lead to a breakout, opening the way toward a significant rally.

This bullish view aligns with other optimistic forecasts on X, where traders speculate that Ethereum could revisit or surpass its previous all-time highs once key resistance levels are cleared and broader market demand returns.

$ETH below $4,000 is a steal.

Institutional accumulation, supply crunch, network activity; you name it, and #Ethereum has everything.

The rally above $10,000 this cycle will be epic. pic.twitter.com/26YTa3lQn8

— Ted (@TedPillows) August 4, 2025

However, for now, the lack of strong futures buying activity and persistent selling pressure in derivatives markets appear to be capping short-term gains.

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView