On-chain data shows whales have been accumulating Ether relentlessly in the last few days.
ETH price has to consistently close above $1,687 in the coming days to invalidate the multi-week correction.
Ethereum has continued to bleed to Solana, and the trend is likely to continue in the coming months.
Ethereum (ETH) price followed Bitcoin (BTC) in a bullish outlook on Tuesday, April 22, potentially ending a multi-week market correction. The large-cap altcoin, with a fully diluted valuation of about $205 billion, recorded a 36 percent surge in its 24-hour average trading volume to hover about $20B at the time of this writing.
For the first time since April 6, Ether’s price rallied beyond $1.7k on Tuesday during the mid-North American session.
Ethereum Whales Gradually Returns
According to market data from Intotheblock, Ethereum’s adoption rate has gradually grown, signaling potential decoupling from crazy speculation. The rising tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) on the Ethereum network has helped increase on-chain activity and attract more whale traders.
On-chain data by Lookonchain shows a whale investor has accumulated 48,477 ETH from crypto exchanges since Feb 15, and is currently sitting on a loss of about $21 million. Meanwhile, cash outflow from U.S. spot Ether ETFs has significantly declined in the past few days, signaling growing market confidence.
Midterm Ether Price Target
For the first time since the second inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ether price, against the U.S. dollar pierced through the daily falling logarithmic trend. After establishing a robust support level above $1,500 in the past two weeks, Ether’s price is well primed for a market reversal.
From a technical analysis standpoint, the daily MACD indicator is approaching the bullish flippening zone. Meanwhile, the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) has been forming a bullish divergence and a reversal will be confirmed if the indicator consistently closes above the 50 percent level.
The trade war between the United States (US) and China is heating up, which is threatening to tumble the global markets, including the crypto market. Specifically, the US has announced that a 104% tariff rate on China will begin on April 9, while the Asian country is already making moves to retaliate.
Crypto Market Risks More Downside With US Set To Impose 104% Tariffs On China
The crypto market risks a further crash as the trade war between the US and China heightens. According to a Bloomberg report, US officials revealed that the country will proceed with a 104% tariff on Chinese goods, which takes effect from April 9.
As Coingape reported, US President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods if the country fails to lift its 34% counter-tariffs by April 8. However, China has made it clear that it has no intention to lift the 34% tariffs.
As such, the 104% tariffs are a cumulative of all earlier tariffs that Trump imposed, plus the 50% that he threatened to impose yesterday. China is also expected to retaliate with further tariffs as the country has promised to fight till the end.
The crypto market is reacting to the news of the 104% tariffs on China, with the Bitcoin price sharply dropping below $77,000. Coinglass data shows that the market has recorded almost $50 million in liquidations in the last one hour. Long positions have suffered the most, with almost $40 million in long positions wiped out.
Crypto analyst Mikybull Crypto revealed that the total cap has just flashed on the sell signal, providing a bearish outlook for the market. The analyst noted that this same thing happened in 2018 and 2022, which began the bear market. He added that 2019/2020 was the outlier due to the pandemic.
BTC Could Still Drop To As Low As $70,000
Crypto analyst Rekt Capital has predicted that the Bitcoin price could bottom at around $70,000 amid the US-China trade war. The analyst noted that whenever Bitcoin’s daily RSI crashed into the sub-28 RSI level, it wouldn’t necessarily mark out the price bottom.
Rekt Capital stated that, historically, the actual price bottom would be -0.32% to 8.44% lower than the price when the RSI first bottomed. He revealed that BTC is currently forming its second low, -2.79% below the first low. The analyst claimed that a repeat of -8.44% below the first low would see the Bitcoin price at around $70,000.
In line with this, the crypto market could witness a massive crash as Bitcoin drops to $70,000. The Ethereum price has again dropped below $1,500, while other altcoins risk dropping to new lows.
Over the past two months, macroeconomic uncertainty has heightened crypto market volatility. Bitcoin has retracted from its $109K high, while altcoins have faced even steeper declines. According to Coinglass data, investor sentiment has shifted from a phase of “greed” to one of “fear,” sparking debate over whether this is merely a dip or the onset of a bear market.
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Earn While You Trade: The Power of HTX Auto-Earn
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High Yields, More Choices: Find Your Perfect Fit
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At present, top-performing Flexible Earn products include USDT, USDD, BTC, ETH, and $HTX, with DOGE and SHIB also gaining traction. With the TRON Meme Season 2.0 on the horizon, expect more SunPump meme coins to land on HTX and expand the Earn ecosystem further.
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The Bottom Line
Through every market cycle, HTX Earn stays ahead by delivering user-first innovations, smarter automation and a robust passive income ecosystem. From future balance yields to hourly compounding on spot balances, from 200+ supported assets to $HTX-powered ecosystem incentives, HTX Earn is redefining what’s possible in crypto passive income. No matter where the market moves, HTX Earn ensures your assets keep working, 24/7.
There has been a sharp decline in daily active addresses across Smart Contract Platforms (SCPs) in recent months, raising concerns among investors and developers.
Meanwhile, Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade could be the turning point, with crypto analyst Jamie Coutts calling the current state a cleansing of the ecosystem.
SCPs See Sharp Decline in Active Users
Jamie Coutts, who built Bloomberg Intelligence’s crypto research product, says this is the worst decline ever recorded in the history of SCPs.
He also notes that it is far worse than the 2022-2023 bear market, with daily active addresses dropping 40.5% in just five months.
“This is the largest usage collapse in SCP history,” wrote Coutts.
Coutts’ analysis provides a deeper look at the broader crypto ecosystem, which is simultaneously witnessing an uptick in global liquidity and an all-time high in stablecoin market cap.
While the sector seems to be experiencing a shakeout, Coutts says this decline does not indicate the death of smart contract platforms. Rather, it is a necessary cleansing of the ecosystem.
The analyst attributes the drop in daily active addresses to several key factors, including the rise of artificial activity.
“Much of the past cycle’s growth was artificial: Usage inflated by bots and Sybil farms, Incentive programs created temporary traction without stickiness. The unwind reflects a cleansing of fake activity, not the death of the sector,” Coutts explains.
The rise of bots and Sybil attacks, where bad actors create multiple fake identities to manipulate a platform’s usage metrics, has artificially inflated the activity numbers across various smart contract platforms.
Now, as these fake users are being weeded out, the real growth potential of SCPs is becoming clearer.
Moreover, this trend suggests that SCPs with weak application ecosystems or limited use cases will face significant valuation compression. This is especially true without stablecoin integration or real-world asset (RWA) applications.
Coutts notes that many SCP tokens risk valuation compression if their platforms do not offer high throughput, low-cost, and real settlement capabilities.
The market will likely reward mature platforms capable of supporting real economic activity. These include stablecoin transactions, payments, and AI-native applications.
“…going forward, value will concentrate in platforms that enable high-throughput, low-cost, real settlement and agentic automation,” he added.
Ethereum Staking Surge Post-Pectra
Interestingly, these predictions align with the recent Ethereum Pectra upgrade, which went live on May 7, 2025.
The Pectra upgrade introduces key features that could help Ethereum, the largest smart contract platform, stay ahead in this playing field. Specifically, the upgrade improves Ethereum’s staking model and validator operations.
CryptoQuant recently indicated a notable spike in ETH staking around the Pectra Upgrade news. Specifically, before the Pectra upgrade news, ETH staking saw a net outflow of around 1.02 million ETH, reflecting uncertainty.
However, after the news, staking rebounded with a 627,000 ETH inflow, signaling renewed market confidence in the Ethereum staking ecosystem.
“Before Pectra News (Nov 16 – Feb 15): ETH staking dropped from ≈34.88M to 33.86M ETH, a net outflow of ~1.02M ETH. This period reflects market uncertainty and mild unwinding of staking positions ahead of the upgrade. After Pectra News (Feb 16 – May 16): Total ETH staked rose from 33.78M to 34.41M ETH — a net inflow of ~627K ETH. Indicates renewed confidence in the staking process following the upgrade,” wrote CryptoQuant analyst Kripto Mevsimi.
ETH Staking before and after Pectra Upgrade news. Source: CryptoQuant
In the same tone, Bohdan Opryshko, co-founder and COO at Everstake, told BeInCrypto that the Pectra upgrade may be Ethereum’s most institution-friendly update. He says the upgrade is the clearest signal that Ethereum is ready for conservative capital.
“For the first time, institutions can stake at scale with operational clarity and reduced complexity. It’s a green light for conservative capital to get involved in native Ethereum staking,” Opryshko told BeInCrypto.
Further, Pectra’s introduction of smart accounts allows Ethereum wallets to execute smart contract logic. This could drive stablecoin integration.
At the same time, it could enhance scalability. This would make Ethereum better suited to handle real economic activities such as payments and financial transactions.
Nevertheless, Coutts highlighted a divergence between price action and network activity, a common phenomenon in the crypto space. While markets stabilize, activity on many SCPs remains stagnant.
Coutts notes that this divergence will not last. More sophisticated capital will increasingly flow toward platforms that anchor real economic behavior, especially via stablecoin flows and payments.
“Markets may be stabilizing, but activity is not,” More sophisticated capital will increasingly rotate toward chains that anchor real economic behavior, especially via stablecoin flows, payments, and AI-native applications,” Coutts says.
Finally, Coutts predicts that a liquidity-driven rally will return, fueled by the significant liquidity expected to enter the system in the coming months.
However, he cautions that the value will likely accrue to a subset of SCPs that can deliver tangible value through real-world applications and stablecoin integration. This sentiment aligns with the structural upgrades brought by Ethereum’s Pectra fork.
