What Ethereum [ETH] traders can expect from Q4

Ethereum has been in the heat of discussion on social media following the release of the Merge last week. However, everything has not gone according to plan as ETH prices have dropped below $1,350.

In fact, Ether’s weekly losses are now at more than 17% according to CoinMarketCap. But anonymous crypto enthusiast (@CryptoGucci) believes all hope is not lost for Ethereum in a recent tweet thread.

Back on track soon?

The analyst stirs up the conversation about Ethereum validators who have increased by over 11.36k in September alone.

Ethereum now has over 429.6k active validators on the network. This late surge in online validators signifies a growing increase in investors’ confidence from the technical standpoint of the Merge.

Source: Glassnode

That being said, leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has now extended its support to Arbitrum. OpenSea announced this news in a tweet yesterday (20 Sept.) claiming users will now be able to buy and sell NFTs on the Ethereum Layer 2 solution.

The NFTs will start rolling on Arbitrum from 21 September only without any delays.

But…But…But

Despite these bis of optimism, the situation remains bleak for Ethereum and the crypto market at large. Leading crypto assets such as BTC and ETH are still struggling in the market.

At press time, Bitcoin was trading below $19k while ETH was available at around $1,330. Both tokens have dived in the past day and continue to get affected by macro factors.

The situation is similar for Ethereum traders in light of the falling prices. The MVRV ratio for Ethereum has now fallen to -13.6% as profitability has decreased massively in the past week.

This process was exacerbated by a major sell-off after the Merge event. Trader sentiment remains a crucial cog for any short term recovery of the asset which remains in a dire situation for now.

Source: Santiment

Here is another faltering aspect observed on Ethereum today (on 21 September). According to blockchain analytics platform Glassnode, Ethereum’s Median transaction volume has dropped to an all-time low of 0.032 ETH.

This is a clear reflection of the crumbling state of trader sentiment at Ethereum right now with many looking to reduce their ETH exposure.

Source: Glassnode

Another concerning factor for Ethereum is the growing negative sentiment from the crypto community. According to the data below, we can see how FUD is settling into the crowd despite the “heavily-anticipated” Merge event. It seems Ethereum is looking to end Q3 on a similar note as the previous quarter.

Source: Santiment