Ethereum (ETH) Price: Consolidation Below $3,000 Hints at Major Rally as Bullish Patterns Emerge

Ethereum's price action is tightening—and the squeeze could launch it higher.

The world's second-largest cryptocurrency is consolidating stubbornly below the $3,000 psychological barrier. This isn't stagnation; it's a coiled spring. On-chain metrics and technical charts are whispering the same thing: a significant accumulation phase is underway, setting the stage for the next leg up.

The Bullish Setup Taking Shape

Forget the sideways movement on the daily chart. Look closer. Key indicators are painting a classic picture of a market gathering strength before a breakout. Trading volume patterns suggest smart money is positioning itself, not exiting. It's the quiet before the storm—a storm that historically favors the bulls.

Why $3,000 Is Just a Number

The fixation on the $3,000 price point is understandable, but it's a distraction. The real story is the robust support being established below it. Each test of lower levels has been met with aggressive buying, creating a higher foundation. This isn't a ceiling; it's a trampoline. When it finally gives way, the move could be explosive.

The Bigger Picture for ETH

This consolidation phase fits perfectly into Ethereum's long-term roadmap. Network upgrades have fundamentally improved its utility and economics. While traders watch candlesticks, developers are building the next wave of applications on a more efficient, scalable chain. Price often follows utility—just usually after Wall Street has finished its usual over-analysis and under-investment.

Markets climb a wall of worry. Right now, that wall is built around a single, round number. When ETH decisively cuts through $3,000, it won't just be breaking a resistance level—it will be bypassing a major sentiment barrier. The patterns suggest it's not a matter of 'if,' but 'when.' And for the skeptics? They'll be left explaining why they were busy valuing a global supercomputer like it was a quarterly earnings report.

TLDR

• Ethereum is trading around $2,825, down 14% this week, struggling to break above the $3,000 resistance level
• Analyst Javon Marks identifies a hidden bullish divergence pattern suggesting potential rally to $8,557, representing a 180% gain
• A major Ethereum whale recently unstaked $1.8 billion worth of ETH and moved it to seven new wallets
• Ethereum ETFs saw $224.2 million in outflows, with BlackRock alone selling $221.3 million worth of ETH
• Developers plan to increase Ethereum’s gas limit from 60 million to 80 million in January to boost transaction speed

Ethereum is trading NEAR $2,825 as of December 18, stuck in a consolidation phase after last week’s sell-off. The price has dropped roughly 14% over the past seven days according to CoinMarketCap data.

The $3,000 level has become the key battleground for ETH. Technical analyst Ted Pillows notes that ethereum remains range-bound with this price point acting as the critical resistance zone.

Repeated failures near the $3,000 to $3,100 region have turned it into a major supply area where sellers continue to enter the market. As long as price stays below this band, upside attempts face strong headwinds.

On the support side, traders are watching $2,800 as the immediate floor. Below that, the $2,650 to $2,600 zone represents a deeper demand pocket from prior consolidation. If selling pressure accelerates, $2,500 marks the lower boundary of the broader range.

Despite the price weakness, community sentiment data shows approximately 82% bullish versus 18% bearish participants. This divergence between price action and crowd conviction suggests longer-term holders remain confident even as short-term momentum fades.

Bullish Pattern Points to Major Price Target

Crypto analyst Javon Marks sees a different picture emerging from the charts. He points out that ETH recently touched a main resistance level at $4,811.71 before pulling back.

Ethereum to $8,557.78:$ETH moved almost exactly as it should have after meeting our target at $4,811.71 which acts as a huge & significant technical level.

Prices treated this as a resistance, which is reasonable, and since then, they have set up in another Hidden Bull… https://t.co/sEuJNNsono pic.twitter.com/SQa6hYuaP2

— JAVONMARKS (@JavonTM1) December 17, 2025

More importantly, Marks identifies another hidden bullish divergence forming on the chart. This technical pattern often appears before price recoveries. He suggests ETH could retest the $4,811.71 region in the near future.

If Ethereum breaks cleanly above that resistance zone, Marks projects a potential target of $8,557.68. This would represent a gain of nearly 180% from current levels.

At press time, ETH trades at $2,846.57 with a 24-hour trading volume of $38.37 billion and a market capitalization of $353.05 billion. The token has dropped 3.29% over the past 24 hours.

Major Whale Activity and ETF Flows

On-chain data reveals interesting movements from large holders. Analyst Ted highlighted that one of the largest Ethereum whales recently unstaked all of their ETH holdings. The whale moved approximately $1.8 billion worth of ETH into seven new wallets.

$ETH is still stuck in a range.

Ethereum needs to reclaim the $3,000 level soon; otherwise, it could drop below $2,800. pic.twitter.com/KCuJxFkgxH

— Ted (@TedPillows) December 17, 2025

This same whale had previously been selling large quantities of Bitcoin in exchange for Ethereum. The unstaking activity marks a change in their positioning.

Ethereum ETF flows tell another story. The previous session saw net outflows of $224.2 million from ETH ETFs. BlackRock accounted for the majority of these sales, offloading $221.3 million worth of ETH.

The volume trends show that while selling picked up during the initial breakdown, follow-through volume has since moderated. This suggests forced liquidation pressure is easing.

Price action over recent sessions shows compression with lower highs and shallow sell-offs rather than impulsive downside moves. This type of behavior often precedes either a range expansion or a prolonged base-building phase.

Network Upgrades on the Horizon

Ethereum developers are planning to increase the network’s gas limit from 60 million to 80 million in January. The MOVE aims to boost transaction throughput on the network.

Christine Kim, vice president of research at Galaxy Digital, shared details from the All Core Developers meeting. Nethermind representatives said developers should be ready to move forward with the gas limit increase after the next hard fork on January 7.

The gas limit increase will allow more transactions and smart contract operations to fit in each Ethereum block. This should boost overall throughput while potentially lowering fees.

Developers will reconvene on January 5 to confirm the timing for raising the gas limit. The planned increase follows two previous hard forks focused on blob capacity.

Ethereum’s gas limit has seen three increases this year, rising from 30 million in February to the current 60 million. Members of the developer community have expressed a goal to reach 180 million by the end of 2026.