A popular cryptocurrency analyst expressed concerns over Ethereum’s ETH/USD underwhelming performance and assessed its future prospects on Monday.
What Happened: In a series of X posts, Ali Martinez, known for identifying chart patterns and issuing price predictions, called Ethereum one of the “weakest” performers in the cryptocurrency market in recent days.
The concerns were not unfounded. The second-largest cryptocurrency has dropped about 2.5% in value since 2025 began, as opposed to the gains accumulated by other large-cap coins like Bitcoin BTC/USD, Solana SOL/USD, and XRP XRP/USD.
Martinez noted that Ethereum’s network adoption has slowed down considerably, with the number of new ETH addresses declining by 9.32% over the past week.
The analyst also noted Ethereum’s historical tendency to perform well in the first quarter. On average, the second-largest cryptocurrency gains 82% in this period, according to data from Coinglass.
The historical success possibly justified large whale accumulations totaling over a billion in the last week, Martinez stated, citing on-chain data. Additionally, roughly $2 billion worth of ETH was withdrawn from cryptocurrency exchanges over the last month, suggesting significant buying demand.
For the sentiment to flip bullish, Martinez said that ETH must break crucial resistance levels, with the $3,360–$3,450 zone acting as a major barrier.
He also noted the formation of an inverse head and shoulders pattern, breaking from which could potentially send the coin to $7,000.
Note that the inverse head and shoulders pattern is a bullish reversal pattern, indicating exhaustion of a prolonged downturn.
See Also: Trump Names Uyeda Acting SEC Chair, Regulators Get Ready For Crypto Makeover
Why It Matters: Martinez’s observations coincided with World Liberty Financial’s acquisition of $47 million worth of ETH. The President Donald Trump-backed cryptocurrency project now has total ETH holdings worth over $185 million, making it one of the largest holders of the cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile, Ethereum faltered amid a broader market slump as President Trump made no mention of cryptocurrency in his inauguration address.
The snub might have come as unexpected for many cryptocurrency enthusiasts since various reports building up to the swearing-in anticipated major cryptocurrency reforms on Day 1 of Trump’s tenure.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Ethereum was exchanging hands at $$3,251.53, down 4.56% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Read Next:
- Trump’s DOGE Committee Faces Lawsuits Over Alleged Federal Advisory Violations, Lack Of Transparency
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
