Ethereum’s native token Ether may be headed for a stretch of sideways price action, as much of the near-term macroeconomic risk and upcoming industry catalysts appear to be already priced in, according to a crypto analyst.
“A lot of near-term uncertainty is priced into Ethereum,” Pav Hundal, lead analyst at Swyftx, told Cointelegraph on Thursday. “It would not surprise me at all if ETH remains pretty subdued over the next few weeks.”
Hundal said geopolitical tensions — including escalating issues involving Iran — along with developments surrounding the US CLARITY Act, have largely been absorbed by the market.
$19 billion liquidation event pressures Ether
He added that Ether is still working to rebuild investor confidence following a $19 billion liquidation event in October, with sentiment yet to fully recover.
“Ethereum is facing a double whammy in the short term,” Hundal said. “October’s liquidation cascade wiped $19 billion from the market, and now consumer sentiment has fallen to levels we haven’t seen since 2022.”
Pav Hundal said traders are concentrating too heavily on the next source of market liquidity while ignoring a more important factor — sentiment. “For me, consumer sentiment is the big story that no one is really talking about,” he noted.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, a gauge of overall market mood, registered an “Extreme Fear” reading of 13 on Friday, signaling heightened caution among investors.
Despite that wariness among retail participants, BitMine Immersion Technologies — the largest corporate holder of Ether — has continued expanding its reserves. The firm recently purchased 45,759 ETH, lifting its total holdings to 4,371,497 ETH, or roughly 3.62% of the 120.7 million ETH currently in circulation.
Ether may challenge investors in the months ahead
Meanwhile, Ether has dropped 56.8% from its October high near $4,687 — a time when Bitcoin climbed to a record $126,100, according to CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, Ether is trading around $2,021.
Looking ahead, Hundal expects Ether to test even seasoned investors over the medium term, though he is closely monitoring whether the asset begins to outperform Bitcoin.
“That is where things can get potentially explosive,” he said.
Over the past week, the ETH/BTC ratio — a measure of Ether’s strength relative to Bitcoin — has risen 3.58%, based on data from TradingView.
