Ethereum [ETH] has been trading above $2,500 over the past two weeks, but $2,800 is proving to be a key hurdle to its uptrend. The altcoin is consolidating inside a triangle pattern following weakening ETF inflows.
Despite this temporary pause to its uptrend, some big players in the crypto have a very optimistic upside potential for the altcoin. Can ETH break free from the pattern?
Institutional capital inflows turn negative
Since the 18th of September, Spot Ethereum ETFs have had positive daily net inflows even though the volume has been declining. During this period, the product attracted more than $850 million in capital.
However, these net inflows have turned negative, with around $2.81 million leaving the market in the past 24 hours. This amount is dwarfed by the weekly inflow, but the weakening inflows have been reflected in ETH’s price.
This pattern of capital flows has shaped the altcoin’s price outlook over the past two weeks or so.
Arthur Hayes targets $10K for ETH by the end of the year
On the charts, Ethereum was trading in a symmetrical triangle pattern with its price near the apex. The origin of the consolidation was a retest of the sideways range market between $2,300 and $2,550.
The altcoin’s movement had cooled off, as seen in the reading of the momentum indicator, which was flat at 1.62, just above the neutral level. Periods of low volatility usually precede bigger rallies, and this scenario could just be another case unfolding.
A break and hold below the lower resistance would trigger a move to $2,550 or lower if bears outweigh bulls. On the other hand, clearing the upper resistance increases the chance of trading toward $10,000.
Speaking at the ‘KBW2026 with Upbit’ event, Arthur Hayes predicted that ETH could reach $10,000 by the end of the year. The co-founder of the defunct BitMEX exchange cited that he is not worried about putting large amounts of money because of some exploit.
Furthermore, Hayes said Ethereum was the most secure layer 1 because of its market cap among altcoins.
When asked why he thought Ethereum was underperforming so much, Hayes noted there were blockchains that had captured the narrative, among other challenges.
For instance, Solana captured the memecoin narrative and flew with it, making Ethereum a victim of its own success despite pioneering the decentralized computer networks.
Final Summary
- Spot Ethereum ETF inflows turned negative after a week of positive net flows amounting to over $850 million.
- Ethereum was trading in a symmetrical triangle, with Arthur Hayes calling for a target of $10K by the end of the year.