Is ETH ready for a breakout after 26% rally?

Is the latest rally enough to shift Ethereum price prediction, or do lingering dominance lows and macro risk still cap how far ETH can realistically go?

Ethereum regains momentum with a sharp rally

After several weeks of sluggish price action, Ethereum (ETH) is finally showing signs of a meaningful recovery. The second-largest crypto by market cap recently climbed past $1,800, staging a sharp rebound from its Apr. 9 low, when it briefly dipped below $1,400.

That earlier drop was partly triggered by market unease over President Trump’s tariff-driven economic stance, which had weighed on risk assets.

Since then, ETH has rallied more than 26%, breaking decisively out of the narrow $1,500 to $1,600 range where it had remained stuck for much of the month. As of April 23, Ethereum is trading near $1,790, gaining over 10% in just the past 24 hours.

The broader crypto market is also turning more optimistic, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading close to $92,500 and the total market cap nearing the $3 trillion mark.

On-chain data reflects a return of deep-pocketed players. One whale recently borrowed $34.75 million in Tether (USDT) from Aave (AAVE) and used those funds to purchase nearly 20,000 ETH at an average entry of $1,740.

The same entity has now deposited 50,000 Wrapped Ethereum (WETH), valued at approximately $89.8 million, as collateral to borrow over $65 million more.

The liquidation threshold for this position sits around $1,549, suggesting a carefully hedged bet built on short- to medium-term conviction.

Institutional signals are beginning to follow. On April 22, U.S.-listed Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $38.74 million, breaking a 10-day streak of flat or negative flows. Fidelity’s FETH led the activity with $32.65 million in inflows, followed by Bitwise’s ETHW with $6.09 million.

These inflows marked the highest single-day intake for Ethereum funds since early February and came after eight straight weeks of persistent outflows, which had totaled nearly $910 million. In total, Ethereum-focused ETFs have now accumulated approximately $2.26 billion in inflows since their respective launches.

With both market structure and institutional behavior beginning to shift, let’s examine what’s happening across Ethereum’s ecosystem, and where Ethereum price prediction could head in the coming days.

Vitalik eyes a leap beyond the EVM

Ethereum’s technical foundations may soon undergo a profound transformation, following a new proposal by co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

On Apr. 20, Buterin introduced the idea of replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine with RISC-V, an open-source computing architecture known for its modularity and built-in encryption support.

The EVM has long served as the backbone of Ethereum’s smart contract functionality. It enables developers to deploy decentralized applications and has been central to Ethereum’s broad compatibility with other blockchains and layer-2 networks.

Popular ecosystems such as Coinbase’s Base chain rely heavily on EVM standards to enable cross-chain operations and support developer migration.

Buterin’s proposal suggests that switching to RISC-V could streamline Ethereum’s execution layer—the part of the network that processes and executes smart contract code.

While the EVM has proven reliable, it is increasingly seen as a bottleneck for Ethereum’s scalability. Adopting a more modern and adaptable architecture like RISC-V, according to Buterin, could enhance processing efficiency and reduce resource demands on the network.

One of RISC-V’s key strengths lies in its native support for encryption functions. This allows Ethereum to potentially avoid the complexity of ongoing efforts to reconfigure the EVM around zero-knowledge proofs.

While zero-knowledge systems promise enhanced privacy and scalability, they often require significant computational power and development overhead. RISC-V’s built-in capabilities may offer a more direct and lightweight alternative.

Buterin also pointed out that RISC-V has already shown promise in other blockchain environments, including small-scale implementations on platforms like Polkadot (DOT).

In certain use cases, performance could improve by more than a hundredfold if Ethereum were to integrate RISC-V at the protocol level. These gains could help address persistent concerns over gas fees and network congestion, both of which remain barriers to everyday use and mainstream adoption.

The proposal comes at a crucial moment. Ethereum’s transaction volumes have declined, and ETH’s price performance has lagged behind broader market trends. Earlier this year, the Ethereum Foundation underwent a leadership change aimed at reorienting the project’s strategic direction.

Technical indicators show early bullish hints

Ethereum’s recent price recovery is beginning to attract attention, but the rally remains in a fragile phase from a technical perspective. At the time of writing, ETH is trading just under the $1,800 mark, marking a steady climb from earlier lows.

Despite this rebound, Ethereum is still trading below key long-term resistance levels. The 50-day simple moving average stands at $1,830, while the 100-day sits much higher at $2,342. Both remain above the current price, signaling that ETH has yet to fully exit its broader downtrend and reclaim upward momentum on a longer time frame.

On the short-term side, ETH is showing healthier signals. The 5-day and 10-day moving averages have moved to $1,709 and $1,660, both now sitting below the current price, a typical early indicator of a bullish shift.

The Relative Strength Index is hovering near 56.5, reflecting neutral territory, not yet in overbought or oversold conditions. This suggests there’s still room for further price movement in either direction without immediate exhaustion.

Momentum indicators remain more cautious. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), currently at 38, signals a neutral trend. It does not yet point to a strong directional shift, implying that market participants are still weighing macro cues and short-term signals.

Support levels are holding firm at $1,623, $1,490, and $1,422. These price points provide a safety net if the market sees a near-term correction. On the upside, resistance lies at $1,824, followed by $1,892 and $2,025.

These thresholds will likely serve as key decision points for traders looking to determine whether the current move has lasting strength or is merely a temporary relief rally. A sustained breakout above the $1,900 level would be a clearer signal of broader market confidence returning.

Ethereum price predictions and analyst sentiment

Ethereum’s recent bounce has sparked a wave of optimism, with several analysts suggesting that the recovery may finally be gaining structure.

A pseudonymous analyst named Incognito, posting on TradingView, sees a classic setup forming a “falling wedge” pattern, which often precedes a bullish breakout.

According to him, Ethereum looks like it’s nearing the final stages of a Wyckoff accumulation phase, a framework used to map how assets transition from sell-offs to new uptrends.

If that plays out, his chart suggests an initial move toward $2,499, and possibly as high as $2,700. A similar note came from trader Christiaan on X, who shared a near-term target of $2,690.

Both analysts are optimistic that Ethereum may be ready to climb, but only if short-term support stays intact. Any dip back into the previous range could invalidate the setup altogether.

Meanwhile, Rekt Capital is approaching it from a broader lens, not price, but dominance. ETH dominance, which tracks Ethereum’s market cap relative to the rest of crypto, recently hit new lows. But it’s still holding above its 2019 base, and that matters.

According to him, if Ethereum can close the month inside the green support band on his chart, it could be repeating the kind of bottom formation that led to the multi-month rally between 2019 and 2020.

Another angle comes from Michaël van de Poppe, who sees a bullish divergence starting to take shape. That’s when price prints lower lows but momentum indicators like RSI show higher lows—often a subtle clue that selling pressure is fading.

Van de Poppe added that if Ethereum holds 1,850 sats against Bitcoin and starts to form higher lows, there’s a good chance it could enter a fresh uptrend from here.

Still, these are signals, not certainties. Technical analysis can help identify potential shifts in sentiment, but charts don’t account for sudden macro shocks.

As always, risk management matters. Whether ETH pushes higher or stalls again will depend on how the market handles upcoming resistance zones and whether confidence builds fast enough to carry it through. Trade wisely, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.