- Ethereum price was down more than 7% as bears broke below $3,000 to touch $2,940.
- As sell-off pressure mounts, bears could eye lows of $2,300.
- BitMine continues to buy ETH, with analysts indicating dips are for buying.
Ethereum price is down 7% in the past 24 hours and looks poised for fresh losses as bulls retreat sharply amid renewed selling pressure.
This comes as ETH prices dip below the psychological $3,000 level for the first time in months.
Notably, the breakdown arrives amid broader market weakness, with Bitcoin extending its rot to hit lows of $89,500.
Macro jitters, persistent exchange-traded funds outflows, and signs of capitulation are fueling concerns that the path of least resistance remains lower for BTC, ETH, and the broader crypto market.
Ethereum price dips below $3,000
On Tuesday, the ETH price breached the $3,000 mark, trading as low as $2,940.
The downturn sees bears extend the downtrend that has seen Ethereum shed more than 7% in the past 24 hours, and 16% from its weekly highs above $3,200.
Despite notable accumulation by BitMine, downside momentum has overwhelmed buying interest and ETH risks fresh losses.
At the time of writing, the Ethereum price hovered near $2,979, with the top altcoin down sharply as Bitcoin plunged under $90,000.
Per CoinMarketCap data, BTC fell to lows of $89,500 across major exchanges, with both coins’ dips coming amid notable buying by Strategy.
BitMine disclosed it had acquired an additional 54,156 ETH over the past seven days, a move that pushed the publicly-traded company’s total holdings to 3.56 million ETH.
Ethereum price forecast
While the aggressive buying has failed to stem price declines, bulls remain upbeat long-term.
“Crypto prices have not recovered since the liquidation event on Oct 10th. And the lingering weakness has the hallmarks of a market maker (or two) suffering from a crippled balance sheet,” said Thomas “Tom” Lee of Fundstrat, Chairman of BitMine.
Lee added:
“When a market maker has a ‘hole’ on their balance sheet, they are seeking to raise capital and are reducing their liquidity functions in the market. This is the equivalent of QT (quantitative tightening) for crypto and has the effect of dampening prices. In 2022, this QT effect lasted for 6-8 weeks. And this is probably happening today.”
Sell-off pressure is up amid continued outflows from US spot Ethereum ETFs.
Technical indicators also paint a decidedly bearish picture, with the daily RSI slipping and the MACD histogram in negative territory.
Ethereum price chart by TradingView
Meanwhile, more than $175 million in ETH liquidations have occurred in the past 24 hours.
Coinglass data shows that over $136 million of these are long positions.
The breach of $3,000 could thus clear the way for a retest of new multi-month lows.
ETH could bounce off the $2,800 region, but weakness would allow bears to target the $2,300–$2,228 region.
On the upside, Ethereum bulls face an uphill battle in the near term with major resistance around $3,300.
