Ether dropped 6% after briefly touching $2,200 on Wednesday, pulled down by a broader selloff in US equities as the war in Iran entered its sixth day.
Disruptions to global oil production and Middle East natural gas shipping pushed WTI crude prices to their highest levels since July 2024. Investors shifted to a risk-off posture as the conflict deepened.
A federal judge also ruled that the US government must begin paying more than $130 billion in tariff refunds to US-based businesses, adding another layer of uncertainty to an already volatile session.
ETH has recovered 22% from its $1,800 retest on Feb. 24, but macro headwinds have capped that momentum. The asset currently trades 58% below its all-time high of $4,956.
Derivatives Markets Signal Caution
The ETH 30-day futures annualized premium sits well below the 5% neutral threshold, according to the report. That signals weak demand for bullish leverage among professional desks.
Options markets tell a similar story. The ETH 30-day put-call skew reached 7% on Thursday after briefly touching neutral levels the day before. Any reading above 6% indicates that whales and market makers are actively hedging against downside. Extreme stress can push the indicator past 15%.
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That persistent skepticism among professional traders gives bears room to extend uncertainty.
Network Activity Has Stalled
Weekly DEX volumes on the Ethereum network recently came in at $12.6 billion, down from $20.2 billion one month earlier. DApp revenues fell to $14.1 million over the past seven days — a 47% decline from the prior month.
The drop is not isolated to Ethereum. Solana DEX volumes also fell 50% over the same 30-day window, suggesting the slowdown reflects broader market conditions rather than platform-specific weakness.
The built-in burn mechanism on Ethereum depends on competition to enter the validation queue, typically driven by DEX activity. Lower volumes reduce fee burn and increase inflationary pressure on ETH supply.
Despite those figures, the Ethereum ecosystem — including layer-2 scaling solutions — accounts for nearly 65% of total blockchain market TVL. The base layer alone holds $55.4 billion in total value locked. Solana, its closest competitor, holds $6.8 billion.
That gap reflects an institutional preference for decentralization over the lower fees and faster transactions offered by competing networks. It also positions Ethereum to absorb a rebound in DApp demand if sentiment turns.
A reclaim of the $2,400 level could shift market sentiment quickly. Until then, ETH price action remains tightly bound to broader risk-off conditions.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash
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