Ethereum price falls 12% in 2 days — Are investors running out of reasons to hold ETH? 

Traders are now questioning whether Ether can recover to $2,800 and what conditions are necessary for ETH to reverse its current trend and outperform the broader cryptocurrency market. 

Some attribute the Ether price weakness to persistent sell pressure from Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation, while others cite reduced demand for decentralized applications and cryptocurrencies overall. Regardless of the specific cause, multiple factors have been keeping Ether’s price below $2,800.

Many Ethereum enthusiasts had high expectations based on the “ultrasound money” theory, anticipating Ether to become deflationary. However, this has not materialized over the past five months, as the coin issuance rate has turned positive, primarily due to changes aimed at reducing layer-2 rollup costs. Essentially, Ethereum’s strategic adjustments have negatively impacted Ether's price.

In addition to Ethereum's increasingly complex roadmap, traders have observed an Ethereum ICO participant offloading approximately 31,000 ETH over the past month after holding since the mid-2014 launch. According to onchain analytics platform Lookonchain, this entity acquired 150,000 ETH during Ether’s initial offering. 

Ethereum network activity does not point to more ETH price downside
However, based on Ethereum network data, investors have no reason to believe that Ether’s price will underperform relative to broader market trends. Ether’s primary function derives from its decentralized processing capabilities, as evidenced by robust metrics such as the total value deposited in the network’s smart contracts and the overall volume of decentralized applications (DApps).