Ethereum at a Crossroads: Hidden Value or Growing Pressure Ahead?

Ethereum: Undervalued or Under Pressure? A Comprehensive Press Review

Ethereum’s Valuation and Accumulation Trends

According to TradingView, crypto trader Coinvo has described Ethereum (ETH) as “insanely undervalued” at its current price. Despite an 8% rise over the past two weeks, ETH remains down 43% over the past year, trading around $1,700 at the time of reporting. From its all-time high, Ethereum is down 63.6%, while Bitcoin is only 13.7% below its own peak. This underperformance has led to questions about Ethereum’s long-term prospects, especially as it faces competition from platforms like Solana, SUI, and Polkadot.

On-chain metrics support the undervaluation thesis. The Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Z-score for Ethereum has entered the “green zone” (between 0 and -1), a range historically associated with market bottoms and potential trend reversals. Inflows into Ethereum accumulation addresses have reached historic highs in 2025, indicating that long-term investors are actively buying and holding ETH. Additionally, exchange reserves for Ethereum are at multi-year lows, suggesting reduced selling pressure and a tightening supply.

“ETH’s MVRV Z-score has now entered the green zone – between 0 and -1 – a range that historically signals a market bottom and possible trend reversal.” – TradingView

However, at press time, ETH trades at $1,754, down 2.1% in the past 24 hours. Analyst Crypto Rover has drawn parallels between ETH’s current price action and Bitcoin’s 2021 trajectory, suggesting a new all-time high could be possible if the pattern holds. Yet, macroeconomic risks, such as potential US trade tariffs, could still impact ETH’s price.

Metric	Value
Current ETH Price	$1,754
1-Year Change	-43%
From All-Time High	-63.6%
BTC from ATH	-13.7%

Accumulation addresses at historic highs
Exchange reserves at multi-year lows
Potential for trend reversal if macro risks subside

Summary: Ethereum is considered undervalued by some analysts, with strong accumulation trends and reduced exchange reserves, but faces significant macroeconomic and competitive risks. (Source: TradingView)

Ethereum’s Consolidation and Technical Outlook

NewsBTC reports that Ethereum is under pressure after failing to break above the $1,874 high set on May 1st, which now acts as strong resistance. ETH is currently trading just above $1,800, and remains over 55% below its December highs. Technical analyst Michael Van de Poppe notes that Ethereum is still in an accumulation phase, particularly against Bitcoin, but needs a decisive breakout above current levels to confirm a bullish trend.

The ETH/BTC chart shows Ethereum consolidating below critical resistance at 0.0195 BTC, with a key demand zone around 0.0184 BTC. If ETH can hold this level and break out, it could outperform Bitcoin during the next altcoin expansion phase. However, the broader market remains influenced by macroeconomic uncertainty, especially US-China tensions.

ETH is currently trading at $1,795.79, after a rejection from the $1,874 local high. The asset remains below both the 200-day simple moving average ($2,709.54) and the 200-day exponential moving average ($2,437.55), indicating a bearish broader trend. Without a breakout above $2,000, the risk of a pullback toward the $1,650–$1,700 support zone increases.

Price Level	Value
Current ETH Price	$1,795.79
200-day SMA	$2,709.54
200-day EMA	$2,437.55
Resistance	$1,874–$2,000
Support	$1,650–$1,700

ETH remains range-bound and vulnerable to volatility
Breakout above $2,000 could trigger renewed upside
Failure to break resistance increases risk of further decline

Summary: Ethereum is consolidating below key resistance levels, with technical indicators suggesting an accumulation phase but no clear breakout yet. The next few days are crucial for its short-term outlook. (Source: NewsBTC)

Major Protocol Upgrade: Pectra Set for May 7

FinanceFeeds highlights that Ethereum is preparing for the Pectra upgrade on May 7, 2025, which is described as the most ambitious protocol enhancement since the Merge in 2022. Pectra combines the Prague update for the execution layer and the Electra update for the consensus layer, aiming to improve efficiency, scalability, and user experience.

A key feature is EIP-7702, which moves Ethereum toward account abstraction, allowing externally owned accounts to function more like smart contracts. This enables transaction batching, gas fee sponsorship (paying gas in tokens other than ETH), and more flexible account recovery. EIP-7251 raises the staking limit for validators from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, benefiting institutional stakers and reducing consensus layer bloat.

Pectra also doubles the number of “blob” data units per block from 3 to 6, enhancing Layer-2 rollup operations and lowering transaction costs. The upgrade introduces the EVM Object Format (EOF) for more efficient and secure contract execution. As of May 6, ETH is trading near $1,800, with analysts noting unusually tight Bollinger Bands in the ETH-BTC ratio, suggesting heightened volatility ahead.

Coinbase and other exchanges have announced temporary suspensions of Ethereum network deposits and withdrawals during the upgrade window (17:50 to 18:45 Beijing Time on May 7) to ensure transaction integrity.

Pectra combines Prague (execution) and Electra (consensus) updates
EIP-7702: Account abstraction and improved wallet usability
EIP-7251: Validator staking limit increased to 2,048 ETH
Layer-2 scaling: Blob data units per block doubled
Temporary exchange suspensions during upgrade

Summary: The Pectra upgrade is a major milestone for Ethereum, targeting scalability, user experience, and institutional participation, with significant technical changes and expected market volatility. (Source: FinanceFeeds)

Defiance’s Innovative ETFs: Long/Short Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Gold

CryptoSlate reports that Defiance ETFs has filed for regulatory approval of four new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that allow simultaneous long and short positions on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and gold. The ETFs include:

Bitcoin vs. Ethereum ETF (long BTC, short ETH)
Ethereum vs. Bitcoin ETF (long ETH, short BTC)
Bitcoin vs. Gold ETF (long BTC, short gold)
Gold vs. Bitcoin ETF (long gold, short BTC)

Each fund is actively managed and uses derivatives to achieve leveraged exposure, with target exposure ranging from +150% to +220% for long positions and -150% to -220% for short positions. The funds do not invest directly in the underlying assets but use futures, swaps, options, and other ETFs or ETPs. Up to 25% of assets may be allocated to a Cayman Islands subsidiary for favorable US tax treatment.

The ETFs are designed for high portfolio turnover and frequent rebalancing, amplifying gains or losses relative to the underlying assets. The year-to-date performance of the “long Bitcoin, short Ethereum” strategy would have been highly profitable, as BTC is up by 1% and ETH is down by nearly 47% in the same period.

ETF	Long Position	Short Position	Target Leverage
Bitcoin vs. Ethereum	BTC	ETH	+150% to +220% / -150% to -220%
Ethereum vs. Bitcoin	ETH	BTC	+150% to +220% / -150% to -220%
Bitcoin vs. Gold	BTC	Gold	+150% to +220% / -150% to -220%
Gold vs. Bitcoin	Gold	BTC	+150% to +220% / -150% to -220%

ETFs use derivatives, not direct asset holdings
High turnover and rebalancing frequency
Performance based on relative, not absolute, asset values
BTC up 1%, ETH down nearly 47% year-to-date

Summary: Defiance’s new ETFs offer innovative ways to bet on the relative performance of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and gold, with high leverage and no direct asset custody. (Source: CryptoSlate)

Institutional Skepticism: Two Prime Abandons Ethereum

Yahoo Finance reports that investment adviser Two Prime has decided to go Bitcoin-only, ceasing to offer Ethereum to its clients. The firm stated, “ETH’s statistical trading behavior, value proposition, and community culture have failed beyond a point that is worth engaging.” Two Prime criticized Ethereum’s price action since Q4, noting that ETH is trading at around $1,850, down 55% from its Q4 high of about $4,100, while Bitcoin is down only about 12% from its highs.

The firm also highlighted that Ethereum’s 30-day volatility is more similar to Dogecoin than Bitcoin, making it less attractive for institutional investors. ETF buying of BTC has outpaced ETH by almost 24 times, and BTC’s total supply consumed by ETFs is more than double that of ETH. Two Prime attributes Ethereum’s struggles to increased competition from chains like Solana, cannibalization by Layer 2 solutions, and a shift toward bureaucracy within the Ethereum community.

Other institutions have also reduced their ETH price targets: Standard Chartered cut its 2025 target by 60% (from $10,000 to $4,000), and VanEck cut its 2030 target by 67% (from $22,000 to $7,300).

ETH trading at $1,850, down 55% from Q4 high
BTC down only 12% from its highs
ETF buying of BTC outpaces ETH by 24x
Standard Chartered and VanEck have sharply reduced ETH price targets

“ETH’s statistical trading behavior, value proposition, and community culture have failed beyond a point that is worth engaging.” – Two Prime

Summary: Institutional sentiment toward Ethereum has soured, with Two Prime and others citing underperformance, high volatility, and competitive pressures as reasons for shifting focus to Bitcoin. (Source: Yahoo Finance)

Vitalik Buterin’s SimpleL1 Proposal: A New Direction for Ethereum

CryptoNinjas details Vitalik Buterin’s proposal for “SimpleL1,” a new architecture for Ethereum that decouples consensus and execution. The proposal aims to slim down Layer 1’s responsibilities, offloading execution logic to Rollups while the base chain handles block proposals and finality. This modular approach is intended to reduce attack vectors, ease client verification, and enable independent upgrades to consensus, fee markets, and validator economics.

The current monolithic design of Ethereum has led to a bloated codebase, making it harder to audit and maintain. SimpleL1 would split Ethereum into a lean consensus layer (handling validator management and finality) and a minimalist execution layer (processing only Ether transfers and fee payments). All smart contracts and complex state would move to Rollups, which submit state roots and transaction data via Merkle proofs.

The community will track several metrics to gauge the success of SimpleL1, including reducing the core code from 150,000 lines to under 10,000, achieving at least three independent protocol implementations within two years, increasing the share of staked ETH held by individuals or small teams above 30%, and ensuring that at least 80% of transactions flow through off-chain rollups within 18 months of launch.

SimpleL1 decouples consensus and execution
Rollups handle all smart contracts and complex state
Target: core code under 10,000 lines, 3+ independent implementations, 80%+ transactions via rollups
Focus on security, decentralization, and scalability

Summary: Vitalik Buterin’s SimpleL1 proposal seeks to make Ethereum more secure, scalable, and maintainable by radically simplifying Layer 1 and leveraging Rollups for execution. (Source: CryptoNinjas)

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