The number of active daily Ethereum ($ETH) addresses has declined dramatically over the past month or so, signaling a sharp cooldown in on-chain participation.
To be specific, the figure hasdropped from 1,329,193 on February 7 to 746,062 on March 3, marking a roughly 45% decline, as specified by data Finbold retrieved from Etherscan.
How drastic the change has been is evident in the fact that February 7 levels were close to the record number of 1,420,187 active $ETH addresses recorded on Friday, December 9, 2022.
Naturally, the decline comes amid persistent price weakness and reflects the broader market’s struggle to regain its footing in the first quarter of 2026. As such, it raises questions about near-term network demand and the asset’s price trajectory.
Nonetheless, there are signs of a reversal on the horizon, at least in the short term, as Ethereum has climbed 6.62% over the past 24 hours to trade at $2,078 at the time of writing, just as Bitcoin (BTC) has managed to pull back past the $70,000 mark as capital rotated back into large-cap digital assets.
Is Ethereum recovering?
The move up appears primarily momentum-driven, as the broader market is also doing well. Indeed, total cryptocurrency market capitalization rose 4.8% to $2.42 trillion, pointing to widespread buying interest.
Moreover, perpetual futures open interest has increased 8.8% over the same period, while funding rates have shot up 21%. This suggests that traders are aggressively adding leveraged long positions and growing confident in the cryptocurrency.
Now, then, traders are watching key technical levels. Namely, Ethereum faces immediate resistance around $2,150, an area that has capped recent upside attempts. A sustained move through that barrier could make $2,300 a likely next target.
However, downside risks remain. That is, a break below $2,000 would expose the $1,900 region again, potentially undermining the current recovery structure. Likewise, Bitcoin’s trajectory will likely serve as a benchmark, with market participants eyeing its ability to consolidate above $71,500 as a signal of continued strength.
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