ETH closed nine months of 2025 in the red, repeating 2018 bear market performance

ETH ended 2025 in the red, after closing nine months of losses. This is the worst performance for ETH since the 2018 bear market. 

The past year saw ETH close nine months in the red, its worst losing streak since 2018. Despite the overall positive performance of the Ethereum network, the underlying token lagged, only briefly making a new all-time high. 

In 2025, ETH did not suffer a big crisis, yet its performance was worse in comparison to 2022, when only seven months ended in the red. ETH crashed despite the lack of a major catastrophic event or bankruptcy in the crypto space, and in the midst of record wallet activity.

While the Ethereum ecosystem showed signs of health, including address activity, stablecoin inflows, and DeFi expansion, the ETH token failed to fulfill expectations for a higher price range. 

ETH lagged in dollar terms despite a climb against BTC

In 2025, ETH lost the faith of retail investors and instead became a playground for whales and institutions. ETH whales attempted to achieve a more favorable average price by buying the dip, but the token did not have enough momentum to break out. ETH failed to fulfill the prediction of Bitmine’s Tom Lee for a hike to $7,500 or even $10,000 at the end of the year. 

The token ended the year with 11.9% in market cap dominance. Over the course of 2025, ETH managed to recover from lows of 0.019 BTC to end the year at 0.034 BTC. Despite this, the token did not fulfill the expectations of expanding to $10,000. 

The weak ETH performance also coincided with the failure to launch a more lasting altcoin season. The weakness of L2 performance also affected Ethereum, as liquidity left even top networks like Arbitrum.

Treasury companies only had a brief effect on the price of ETH. Unlike BTC treasuries, building up ETH reserves was viewed as a means to earn passive income through staking. Even DAT companies did not show conviction in the climb of ETH, but instead on the token’s DeFi and staking ecosystem. 

ETH recovered the $3,000 range

Despite the downturn, ETH managed to recover the $3,000 range. The token mostly traded above the acquisition price of whales at $2,800, bouncing from this support level. The asset ended 2025 with a net loss of 11% after turbulent shifts each quarter. 

The token had its worst quarterly performance at the start of 2025, losing over 45%. Later, ETH managed to bounce off the mid-year slump and spend several weeks above $4,000. ETH moved to $3,079.92 as of January 2, following a market-wide recovery. 

The token ended 2025 with a neutral market sentiment, following weeks of relatively subdued derivative trading. Following the October 11 liquidation, ETH open interest declined to a low of $16.2B, recovering to $18B by the end of 2025. 

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