Ethereum Slides Below $1,600 as Buterin Advocates Privacy Amidst Strong DApp Revenue

Ethereum (ETH) struggles to maintain its position above the $1,500 level, declining 2.4% in the past 24 hours amid challenging market conditions. Meanwhile, technical analysts warn of a potential breakdown in ETH/USD to under $1,000 for the first time in years.

This price dip occurs even as co-founder Vitalik Buterin emphasizes the critical need for privacy within the ecosystem. However, despite technical concerns, Ethereum continues to dominate the decentralized application (DApp) space, generating over $1 billion in fee revenue during Q1 2025.

Privacy Becomes Priority for Ethereum Co-Founder Buterin

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is concentrating on privacy among the volatility of the market. In a recent blog post, Buterin cautioned that presumptions about openness and good intentions in world politics are turning more and more false and suggested that privacy solutions should be first priority in development initiatives.

“Privacy is freedom,” said Buterin, voicing worries about rising corporate and governmental authority. Having personally experienced his own lack of privacy, he said, “every single action I take outside has some nonzero chance of unexpectedly becoming a public media story.”

Based mostly on zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs), which permit “fine-grained control of who can see what information,” Buterin suggested numerous privacy-enhancing remedies. These comprise privacy pools for ethical anonymization compliance with regulations and ZK-proof-based proof of personhood systems.

DApp Revenue Shows Ethereum’s Continued Dominance

In Q1 2025, Ethereum maintained its top position in the DApp ecosystem, generating $1.021 billion in fee income despite price challenges. With layer-2 network Base (Coinbase’s Layer-2) coming in second at $193 million, followed by BNB Chain ($170 million), Arbitrum ($73.8 million), and Avalanche C-Chain ($27.68 million), this amount significantly exceeds rivals.

Ethereum’s first-mover advantage in supporting smart contracts, strong security profile, and large DApp ecosystem with over 4,983 active applications across DeFi, NFTs, and gaming industries help support its leading position among blockchains. DefiLlama claims that, at 51% of the whole DeFi market, Ethereum’s DeFi systems have $46 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL).

Though mainnet gas fees still worry many users, the Dencun upgrade implemented in 2024 has helped improve Ethereum’s throughput by lowering costs on Layer-2 networks and increasing scalability.

Criticism from Market Veterans

Further complicating Ethereum’s situation, experienced trader Peter Brandt recently on social media labeled Ethereum as “worthless trash”. Active in financial markets since the 1970s, Brandt has already characterised ETH as a “completely broken utility coin” because of its complexity and hefty transaction costs.

ETH/USD Technical Analysis Points to Continued Weakness

ETH/USD

Technical analysts are flagging Ethereum’s price direction even if its ecosystem is strong. Having been turned down at the $1,700 resistance level, ETH is hanging about $1,590. With a relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart of 40 below the neutral level of 50, the daily chart shows bearish momentum.

Re-entering a multi-year trading range, Ethereum is now seated at the channel midpoint and finds it difficult to create support. Technical patterns point to a full rotation to the range bottom as feasible, therefore completing the trading range cycle. Failure at that support, however, might push ETH below the $1,000 crucial psychological support level.

Traders should look for possible support at $1,449; should this level fail, there is more downside risk at $1,300. On the other hand, a closing over $1,700 would indicate a comeback toward the next barrier at $1,861.

Ethereum Outlook: Can Future Upgrades Provide Relief?

Although market mood is still pessimistic, Ethereum’s development path presents possible improvement accelerators. Noting “a lot of willingness to do faster hard forks post-Pectra with near-zero pushback,” Vitalik Buterin lately hinted that future network upgrades could come faster.

Planned for May 7, the forthcoming Pectra upgrade is projected to be Ethereum’s most significant one since Dencun in early 2024. The update seeks to deliver to the network better scalability, lower costs, more security, and smart accounts. Based on Pectra, Ethereum’s road map calls for the Fusaka and “Glamesome” improvements, which might offer technological developments to help in future price recovery.

Arslan Butt

Index & Commodity Analyst

Arslan Butt serves as the Lead Commodities and Indices Analyst, bringing a wealth of expertise to the field. With an MBA in Behavioral Finance and active progress towards a Ph.D., Arslan possesses a deep understanding of market dynamics.His professional journey includes a significant role as a senior analyst at a leading brokerage firm, complementing his extensive experience as a market analyst and day trader. Adept in educating others, Arslan has a commendable track record as an instructor and public speaker.His incisive analyses, particularly within the realms of cryptocurrency and forex markets, are showcased across esteemed financial publications such as ForexCrunch, InsideBitcoins, and EconomyWatch, solidifying his reputation in the financial community.