ETH Staking Statistics Turn Bearish on Regulatory Uncertainty

Key Insights:

• ETH resumed the slow retreat toward $1.800, falling 0.38% to end the day at $1,829.
• Staking statistics and regulatory uncertainty left ETH on the back foot.
• The shorter-term technical indicators remain bearish, signaling a fall to sub-$1,800.

Ethereum (ETH) fell by 0.38% on Sunday. Partially reversing a 0.44% gain from Saturday, ETH ended the week down 1.77% to $1,829. ETH fell short of $1,850 for the third consecutive session.

Ethereum Price Action

This morning, ETH was up 0.72% to $1,842. A bullish start to the day saw ETH rise from an early low of $1,825 to a high of $1,842.

Daily Chart

The Daily Chart showed ETH hovering above the $1,815 – $1,795 support band. However, ETH sat below the 50-day EMA ($1,864) while holding above the 200-day ($1,787), sending bearish near-term but bullish longer-term price signals. Notably, the 50-day EMA narrowed to the 200-day EMA, a bearish price signal.

Looking at the 14-Daily RSI, the 45.15 reading reflects bearish sentiment, supporting a fall through the $1,815 – $1,795 support band to target the 200-day EMA ($1,787). However, an ETH move through the 50-day EMA ($1,864) would support a breakout from the $1,865 – $1,895 resistance band to target $1,950.

4-Hourly Chart

Looking at the 4-Hourly Chart, the ETH/USD faces strong resistance at $1,850. ETH sits above the $1,815 – $1,795 support band. However, ETH remained below the 50-day ($1,844) and 200-day ($1,865) EMAs, sending bearish near and longer-term price signals.

An ETH move through the 50-day EMA would support a breakout from the 200-day EMA and the $1,865 – $1,895 support band to target $1,950. However, failure to move through the 50-day EMA would leave the $1,815 – $1,795 support band in play.

The 14-4H RSI reading of 53.94 sends bullish price signals, with buying pressure outweighing selling pressure. Significantly, the RSI signals a breakout from the 50-day EMA to target the $1,865 – $1,895 resistance band.

SEC Continues to Plague the Crypto Market

It was a quiet Sunday session, with no Ethereum network-related events to provide direction. The lack of network updates left ETH in the hands of the broader crypto market.

Regulatory uncertainty continued to plague the crypto market, with SEC activity weighing on investor sentiment. Having thrown ETH into the “Crypto Security Basket,” SEC plans to appeal the SEC v Ripple Court ruling is price bearish.

The ongoing SEC cases against Binance and Coinbase are also testing investor resilience. In particular, the SEC v Coinbase case could overshadow the Judge Torres ruling that led to the relisting of XRP on US exchanges and brief ETH return to $2,000.

Staking inflows trended downwards again on Sunday while pending withdrawals continued to climb, a bearish combination. The staking statistics reflected the SEC-fueled bearish investor sentiment.

Staking Statistics Remain Bearish

According to CryptoQuant, staking inflows decreased from 30,592 ETH on Saturday to 15,968 on Sunday. The fall to sub-20,000 was a bearish price signal.

The overnight withdrawal profile was bearish, with ETH principal withdrawals at above-normal levels. However, withdrawal projections for the morning session are bullish. Projections show ETH withdrawals will return to normal withdrawal levels.

On Sunday, the net staking balance stood at a 10,360 ETH surplus ($19.00 million), down 68% over 24 hours. Deposits totaled 31,530 versus withdrawals of 21,160 ETH.

According to TokenUnlocks, total pending withdrawals stood at 37,960 ETH, equivalent to approximately $69.47 million. Notably, the staking APR stood at 5.75%, down 0.17% over 24 hours. The downward trend in net staking balance and staking inflows and the upward trend in total pending withdrawals are bearish price signals.