Ethereum’s Q2 Comeback: Smart Bet or Fool’s Errand After Q1 Bloodbath?

Ethereum limped out of Q1 with a 20% haircut—now the smart money’s eyeing a rebound. Here’s why.

Layer 2 adoption hits escape velocity, ETH burns outpace supply, and institutional ETF whispers grow louder. But Wall Street’s ’blockchain experts’ still can’t tell a smart contract from a Starbucks loyalty card.

Bottom line: The Merge was just Act I. If Ethereum’s scaling solutions deliver this quarter, we could see ATHs before summer. Unless, of course, the SEC decides crypto is ’too risky’ while approving another leveraged ETF on dying mall retailers.

Source: Coinglass

Historically, Q2 has been a stronger season for Ethereum – Except for 2024 and 2022, with the latter still haunted by the brutal post-FTX collapse cycle.

That being said, Ethereum’s Q2 2025 performance is not in full panic mode yet. In fact, at the time of writing, ETH’s quarterly returns were down a modest -1.54%.

Bottom line? This slight dip suggested that despite a rough Q1, the market could be gearing up for a recovery.

Ethereum in Q2 – Will patience pay off?

Back in 2018, 2019, and 2020, Ethereum made Q2 its personal playground, posting some of its biggest bounce-backs – Especially after rough Q1 performances.

2024 though? Different story. Sure, the 5.74% dip in Q2 seemed like a small paper cut, until you looked closer.

Because even with Ethereum finally scoring its first-ever spot ETF listing on Wall Street in July – a major milestone – you’d expect a rocket, right?

Instead, ETH kept sliding. Q3 didn’t bring relief either, with returns falling off a cliff by another 24.19%. So, what changed?

According to AMBCrypto’s analysis, the ETH/BTC pair crashed hard at the same time. And, guess what? That meltdown hasn’t bounced back, dragging the ratio to a painful five-year low.

Source: TradingView (ETH/BTC)

In conclusion, Ethereum’s dominance, which remained between 15% and 20%, has now slipped to 7.40%.

Unless ETH manages to claw back some market share from Bitcoin by breaking through those pesky resistance zones, a bullish Q2 would feel like a long shot.

However, mild returns could still pop up. Especially with capital likely flowing back in – Thanks to Trump’s 90-day tariff hold.

Double-digit returns though? That’d be a huge stretch right now.