Analysts divided: Will Ethereum break the $3,400 barrier soon?

• A prominent crypto analyst suggested that ETH could break out of a bullish pattern, potentially triggering a significant price surge.
• On-chain metrics tell a different story, with rising investor caution and increased selling activity casting doubt on a rally.

Over the past month, Ethereum [ETH] delivered a notable 18.66% gain, but its upward trajectory has since slowed. Weekly performance showed a marginal 0.02% increase, while daily gains remain modest at 0.20%.

AMBCrypto’s analysis suggested that ETH is more likely to face a downturn than achieve the bullish breakout many have hoped for, as market signals remain largely bearish.

Is Ethereum bullish enough to hit $3,400?

According to Carl Runefelt’s chart analysis, ETH is trading below a descending resistance pattern—a formation that often signals an impending price rally.

Based on this pattern, ETH could potentially climb to $3,420, the peak of the formation, representing an 8.55% gain from its current position.

Source: X

Runefelt remarked,

“Ethereum needs to break above this descending resistance to regain bullish momentum.”

However, further analysis suggests that market sentiment remains divided in favor of the bears, with no clear consensus supporting a breakout above the resistance level just yet.

Investors offload ETH, adding downward pressure on price

Data from CryptoQuant reveals that U.S. investors are selling their ETH holdings, which points to waning interest in the asset and diminishing expectations for a rally.

This trend is reflected in the Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the price difference between ETH/USD on Coinbase Pro (a U.S. centric exchange) and ETH/USDT on Binance (a globally focused exchange).

The index has sharply dropped from 0.1346 in April to 0.0256, which signals weaker demand for ETH among U.S. investors compared to global markets.

Source: Cryptoquant

The sell-off coincides with a surge in Exchange Netflow, which measures the movement of ETH across exchanges.

Positive Netflow indicates increased inflows to exchanges, typically for selling, while negative Netflow suggests investors are moving assets to private wallets for long-term holding.

ETH’s Exchange Netflow has remained positive for three consecutive days, with a massive inflow of 28,726.8 ETH in the past 24 hours. This selling pressure has negatively impacted ETH’s price trajectory and would continue in that path with more positive Netflow.

Sellers take control as ETH struggles

An analysis of the Taker Buy/Sell Ratio, a metric used to gauge whether buyers (bulls) or sellers (bears) dominate the market, shows that sellers currently hold the upper hand.

Read Ethereum’s [ETH] Price Prediction 2024–2025

At the time of writing, the ratio sits at 0.9033, below the critical threshold of 1. This reading indicates that selling pressure outweighs buying activity, as more investors offload their ETH holdings.

Source: Trading View

If these bearish trends across multiple metrics persist, ETH is unlikely to break above its resistance line. Instead, this resistance level could act as a price ceiling, potentially triggering further declines in ETH’s value.