Key takeaways:
Declining spot buying and spot Ethereum ETF outflows signal weakening demand.
ETH price technicals show a possibility of a drop to $3,5000.
Ether’s (ETH) price has formed a series of lower highs and lower lows on the daily candle chart since reaching all-time highs of $4,950 on Aug. 14.
As the price fell, it flipped $4,500 into resistance, a level that has suppressed the altcoin for more than 10 days. Let’s look at what is capping Ether at $4,500.
ETH buyers are stepping back
Ether’s ability to push above the resistance at $4,500 appears limited due to the absence of buyers.
Its spot volume delta metric, an indicator that measures the net difference between buying and selling trade volumes, shows negative net spot buying on exchanges even as ETH price consolidates.
Related: Ethereum metrics are telling 2 very different stories right now
This suggests that price recovery may lack the momentum, potentially leading to continued consolidation or a deeper pullback.
Without real demand, any breakout attempt might lack the strength required to push ETH above key levels. So buyers must step in to continue the long-term uptrend.
Demand for spot Ethereum ETFs has also been decreasing, with these investment products posting outflows every day last week, data from SoSoValue shows.
Friday alone saw Ether ETFs shed $446.8 million, bringing total flows last week to -$787.6 million. As such, ETH must find fresh buyers to break out of the current range back to $5,000.
Decreasing Ether open interest
Decreased demand for leverage resulted in a sharp drop in Ether futures open interest (OI), which fell by 18% to $58 billion at the time of writing, from an all-time high of $70 billion on Aug. 23.
The open interest measures the total number of ETH futures contracts available on every derivatives exchange, including CME, Binance, Bybit and OKX.
Even though futures longs (buyers) and shorts (sellers) are always matched, declining OI suggests reduced leverage and market participation, potentially signaling weaker bullish sentiment.
For example, an 18% decrease in OI between July 28 and Aug. 3 was accompanied by a 15% drop in ETH price.
Ethereum network activity slumps with price
As Cointelegraph reported, Ethereum revenue, the share of network fees that accrue to Ether holders as a result of token burns, dropped by about 44% in August, even as the price hit all-time highs.
Revenue for August totaled over $14.1 million, down from July’s $25.6 million, according to Token Terminal. The drop occurred despite ETH rallying by 240% since April and ETH hitting an all-time high of $4,957 on Aug. 24.
The drop comes alongside about a 10% drop in network fees over the last 30 days, to about $43.3 million, data from Nansen shows.
A large part of Ethereum’s fall in revenue has come as a result of the Dencun upgrade in March 2024, which lowered transaction fees for layer-2 scaling networks using it as a base layer to post transactions.
This cuts fee revenue and impacts ETH’s deflationary mechanism, potentially weakening Ether’s price momentum.
ETH price technicals put $3,550 in play
Since mid-August, the ETH price has been forming a descending triangle pattern on its daily chart, characterized by a flat support level mixed with a downward-sloping resistance line.
A descending triangle chart pattern that forms after a strong uptrend is seen as a bearish reversal indicator. As a rule, the setup resolves when the price breaks below the flat support level and falls by as much as the triangle’s maximum height.
A daily candlestick below the triangle’s support line at $4,200 would confirm the continuation of the downtrend toward the measured target of the pattern at $3,550, down 18% from current price levels.
However, some analysts argue that a bounce can occur earlier. Investor and trader Ted Pillows said that ETH price is “looking strong” above $4,200, adding that a deeper drop to retest the $3,800-$3,900 was possible before a reversal.
$ETH is holding above its $4.2K support level.
— Ted (@TedPillows) September 8, 2025
Ethereum price action isn't looking strong, as every small bounce is getting fully retraced.
Looking for a possible retest of $3.8K-$3.9K zone this month before reversal. pic.twitter.com/XHbARDKfXY
As Cointelegraph reported, another potential area to watch for a rebound is $3,745 if the support at $4,250 is lost.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.