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Ethereum price dropped for two consecutive days, reaching its lowest level since April 13. This decline was mostly because of the ongoing Iran-US tensions and risks to its ecosystem as crypto hacks surge.
ETH token was trading at $2,265 on Monday, down modestly from this month’s high of $2,450.
Crypto Hacks Have Surged in April
Thousands of crypto investors have lost millions of dollars this month as hacks jump. DeFiLlama data shows that hacks jumped to over $606 million in April, the highest level since February last year.
In total, crypto investors have lost $1.61 billion in the last 12 months. With this, those lost in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols rose to over $1.29 billion. This month’s hacks were much higher than the $41 million stolen in the previous month.
The most recent hack happened during the weekend, with investors losing over $293 million from Kelp. Hackers drained rsETH tokens bridged through LayerZero, a top player in the bridging industry.
The Kelp hack came a few weeks after hackers stole $285 million from Drift Trade, a top perpetual futures protocol on Solana.
These hacks have an impact on Ethereum, the biggest layer-1 network in the crypto industry. They lower investor confidence in decentralized finance. As a result, fewer people may want to trade or borrow money through these platforms.
At the same time, the hacks lead to less assets in the network, which, in turn, leads to lower network fees. DeFiLlama data shows that the total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum has plunged in the past few weeks.
The network’s TVL stands at $46 billion, down by 17.8% from the previous month. It has dropped from a high of $85 billion in August. The TVL plunged on Sunday as investors removed assets worth over $5 billion from Aave.
Data compiled by Nansen shows that Ethereum’s network growth has stalled during the ongoing crypto winter.
It handled 69 million transactions in the past 30 days. During the same period, active addresses fell 14% to 10.3 million. Also, its monthly fees was $11 million, much lower than Solana’s $15 million.
Potential Catalysts for ETH Price
Still, despite the substantial risks, the Ethereum price has some potential catalysts that will boost its performance.
The most notable one is that institutional investors have started to buy the dip. Tom Lee’s BitMine has continued to accumulate the token this year and now holds over 4.8 million tokens.
At the same time, spot Ethereum ETFs have added assets in the last two consecutive weeks. They added $275 million last week after adding $187 million a week earlier. As a result, they have now had over $11.94 billion in inflows, bringing the total net assets to $14.2 billion.
Another bullish catalyst is that the war in Iran may end soon despite the ongoing rhetoric from both sides. In a statement on Sunday.
President Donald Trump said that the two sides would meet in Pakistan to negotiate this week. A deal between the two countries would be highly bullish for the crypto market. It would raise expectations of interest rate cuts, which typically fuel risk assets like digital currencies.
Ethereum Price Has Formed a Rising Triangle Pattern
The daily timeframe chart shows that the ETH price has pulled back in the past few days. This retreat happened after it jumped to a high of $2,435 last week.
On the positive side, the token has formed an ascending triangle pattern whose upper side is at $2,365. The diagonal line connects the lowest swings since February this year.
The token also remains above the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). Therefore, ETH’s outlook remains bullish. Sellers are likely to push toward the next key target at the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level of $2,958.
