Ether traders on social media turned more optimistic on Thursday after the token’s price saw a modest rise, even as the broader crypto market remained gripped by fear amid an ongoing downturn.
The wave of bullish sentiment followed Ether’s near climb to $3,500, which many traders viewed as a signal that the asset was regaining momentum, according to a post by market intelligence platform Santiment on X.
Santiment’s data showed an average of 2.7 bullish comments for every bearish one — the most positive sentiment ratio since July.
“Ethereum traders have swiftly shifted from being deeply bearish to strongly bullish,” Santiment noted, adding that Ether’s rebound toward $3,500 was widely interpreted as a sign that “the asset was back in business.”
Over the past 24 hours, Ether has fluctuated between $3,251 and $3,451, according to CoinGecko, and was trading at $3,323 early Friday.
However, Santiment cautions that the recent surge in optimism around Ether could backfire, noting that “prices historically move in the opposite direction of crowd expectations.”
On Tuesday, when Ether was trading at $3,700, the platform recorded just 0.86 bullish comments for every bearish one, marking the second-highest negative market bias for the token since April.
“Historically, sustained FUD [fear, uncertainty, and doubt], like what we saw on Tuesday, is healthier for a rally,” Santiment explained, adding that recent sell-offs helped drive the past couple of days’ gains, while traders’ fear of missing out, or FOMO, “could now slow the momentum.”
Santiment added that traders should look for a “true buy signal” when they “slow their expectations of a quick return” to $4,000 and when “bullish sentiment calms down again.”
Meanwhile, sentiment across the broader crypto market remains cautious, as the sector continues to struggle amid ongoing trade tensions between the US and China and other macroeconomic pressures.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which gauges overall market sentiment, registered a score of 24 out of 100 on Friday, indicating “Extreme Fear,” after averaging a “fear” rating over the past week. The index had plummeted 50% on Tuesday to 21 points, its lowest level in nearly seven months, following a brief drop in Bitcoin below $106,000—the first time in over three weeks.
Despite this, Samson Mow, founder of Bitcoin infrastructure company Jan3, has argued in a series of bullish posts on X that the Bitcoin bull run has not yet begun, with significant upside potential still ahead.
