Ethereum Price Loses Crucial Support at $3K – How Low Can ETH Go?

The Ethereum price was trading at $2,971 as of 2:30 am EST, down 4% over the last 24 hours.

ETH has been weighed down by the bearish sentiment currently in the market following a flash crash over the weekend following reports that Iran had launched an attack of hundreds of drones and missiles on Israel.

Ether has tanked more than 16% since then and appears at risk of further losses, particularly after a breakdown of the vital support at $3,000 during the early Asian trading session on April 18.

The escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the dwindling possibility of the approval of a spot Ether ETF in the U.S. and reducing market sentiment suggest that Ethereum could dip further.

Data from Alternative, a platform that tracks "emotions and sentiments" around cryptocurrencies reveals that although the Crypto Fear and Greed Index shows "greed" at 57, it is a substantial drop from last weeks value at 76 and last month's figure at 79 when the sentiments were in the "extreme greed" zone.

Crypto greed and fear index. Source: Alternative.me

This suggests that traders are off-loading their holdings in fear of a continued drawdown in the market.

Ether price flips $3,000 into resistance

ETH price dropped below the $3,000 psychological level for the first time in over two months. This breakdown has seen the largest altcoin by market capitalization flip this vital support into resistance.

Data from market intelligence firm IntoTheBlock reveals that Ether faces relatively stiff resistance on the upside, compared to the support it enjoys in its correction path.

The In/Out of the Money Around Price (IOMAP) chart below shows that the resistance level at $3,000 is within the $3,051 and $3,137 price range where roughly 1,98 million addresses previously bought approximately 1.55 ETH.

Ethereum IOMAP chart. Source: IntoTheBlock

Any attempts to push the price higher from the current level would be met by intense selling from this cohort of investors who may want to break even.

Therefore, increased selling pressure from this level would see the price of the layer 1 token sink deeper. Key levels to watch on the downside are the $2,800 psychological level and the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $2,710.

TradingView Chart: ETH/USD

Supporting the pessimistic outlook was the downward movement of the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator. This trend-following oscillating indicator had also crossed the zero line and was moving within the negative territory, a suggestion that the market conditions favored the downside.

On the upside, a reclaimation of the support at $3,000 would trigger bullishness in the market and the resulting buying pressure would send Ether above the 100-day EMA at $3,080and later the 50-day EMA at $3,300.  Higher than that, the bulls would set their eyes on the psychological level at $3,500.