Ethereum Price is Struggling Below $1,600. Buy the Dip?

Ethereum price has been on a steep decline since the start of the month, dipping more than 12% during the period. The leading altcoin has plunged by more than 4% in the past week and 26.15% in the past six months. Even so, Ethereum remains 29% higher in the year to date. Its total market capitalization has dipped by nearly 2% to $185 billion over the past 24 hours, while the total volume decreased by 5.65% over the same period.

Fundamentals

Crypto prices have been under intense pressure on the back of a decline in risk appetite and global economic concerns. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has been struggling below the crucial level of $27K for the past few days, creating a cascading effect among other cryptocurrencies. Altcoins such as BNB, XRP, Solana, Cardano, Toncoin, and Dogecoin, among others, have crashed by more than 5% in the past week.

The global crypto market cap has declined further over the past few days to $1.05 trillion, while the total crypto market volume increased slightly. Bitcoin’s dominance has also declined slightly from 50% to the current reading of 49.94%. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which measures the volatility in the crypto market, has plunged to a fear level of 39, suggesting a decline in risk appetite by investors, which could lead to increased selling pressure.

Investors have been chewing on the string of economic data released this week, assessing what it could mean for the Fed’s interest rates. Investors have been closely watching remarks by Fed officials and the latest inflation data. Data published on Thursday showed that the key inflation data, the consumer price index (CPI) came in at 0.4%, slightly higher than the consensus estimate of 0.3%. Earlier in the week, the producer price index for September also came in above expectations.

The data comes amid a rise in uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy plans in recent weeks as policymakers seem to have different views on whether rates need to be hiked further. Notably, several Fed officials have suggested that the central bank holds its rates amid a hike in Treasury yields. An environment of higher interest rates is usually bearish for risk assets, particularly cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum Price Outlook

Ethereum price has been on a consistent downward trajectory for the past few days after facing a strong rejection at the crucial level of $1,700. As seen on the daily chart, the ETH price has formed a bearish channel (shown in blue). The digital asset remains below the 50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages, as well as the 50-day and 100-day simple moving averages. Its MACD indicator is signaling a ‘sell’.

As such, the Ethereum price is likely to continue falling in the ensuing sessions as bears eye the immediate support level of $1,500. A breach below this level could pave the way for more losses to the support at $1,450. However, a breakout above the bullish support level of $1,600 could push the price higher to the 50-day EMA, thus invalidating the bearish thesis.

ETH Price Chart