Ethereum has slipped below the $1,600 mark, but on-chain and technical signals hint that the market may be entering a key accumulation phase.
According to an Apr.17 analysis by CryptoQuant contributor abramchart, Ethereum (ETH) is trading near its realized price level, historically a zone that has preceded significant rebounds. The realized price, currently around $1,585, has served as a reliable signal of deep-value accumulation.
Every major bull run in ETH’s history has started when the price fell to or below this level. Ethereum is approaching the lower band of the realized price model, indicating market cooling and potentially priming long-term holders for re-entry.
Still, technical indicators remain mixed. ETH has slipped beneath its 20-day moving average and remains well below the 200-day, indicating a strong downtrend. The relative strength index hovers just under 40, reflecting weak momentum but not yet fully oversold. Daily Bollinger Bands remain compressed, reflecting lower volatility, but a decisive move in either direction may be imminent.
Should the downtrend persist, ETH could find support in the $1,450–$1,550 range, a zone that has historically served as a bottoming area. Immediate resistance lies around $1,670 and a stronger overhead pressure could be experienced in the $1,930 area.
On the fundamentals front, Ethereum’s value capture on layer 1 has weakened considerably since the Dencun upgrade, as noted by an Apr. 16 Binance Research article. While scalability has increased nearly 16-fold due to the introduction of blobs, the change reduced L1 fee revenues.
With users migrating to cheaper layer 2s, ETH’s role as “ultrasound money” has diminished, hurting its appeal relative to faster, lower-fee rivals like Solana (SOL) and BNB Chain (BNB).
Santiment’s Apr. 16 analysis revealed that Ethereum fees have dropped to 5-year lows, averaging just $0.168 per transaction. This shows falling usage and congestion, but from a contrarian perspective, could hint at a potential rebound.
Historically, low fees under $1 often precede price rebounds. As Santiment notes, “The more the retail community leans away from an asset (especially one with still thriving development), the higher the likelihood of an eventual surprise rebound with little resistance.”
Much of the pullback may be tied to broader macro uncertainty. Santiment observed that traders are highly sensitive to tariff and economic news, often delaying ETH activity until greater clarity returns to the global picture.
