Ethereum price struggles below $3,000 as demand for staking weakens. Can bulls regain control?

Ethereum price failed to bounce above $3,000 today as investor demand for staking the token continues to weaken. Can Ethereum bulls manage to regain momentum and surpass this crucial level?

According to data from crypto.news, Ethereum (ETH) rose to an intraday high of $2,973 on November 26, but failed to break the key psychological resistance at $3,000, settling at $2,938 at the time of writing. At this level, the second-largest crypto asset by market capitalization, valued at $354.5 billion, remains down nearly 30% over the past month and trading 40.6% below its all-time high reached in August this year.

Ethereum price has repeatedly encountered resistance near $3,000, once again failing to break that area earlier today amid an ongoing trend of weak strike inflows.

For context, strike inflows are a measure of when investors withdraw their ETH shares from exchanges to stake them. As a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency, staking helps strengthen the security of the Ethereum network, and is generally seen as supportive of the asset’s price since the staked ETH is locked and effectively removed from circulation.

Facts from CryptoQuant shows that stake inflows have fallen from $160,000 at the end of October to just $2,941 today, as traders continue to switch to other cryptocurrencies that offer better returns for a lower investment threshold.

“Investors are still finding Ethereum, currently priced [around $2,900]too expensive to deploy. This situation could push the price towards $2,500,” analysts at CryptoQuant noted in a recent market report.

At the time of writing, the annual staking yield for Ethereum was around 1.9–2%, much lower than some competing proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies, such as Avalanche at 4.7%, Solana at 4.2%, and Bittensor at 14.7%.

Complementing the bearish outlook, Ethereum ETFs have also experienced significant net outflows, in aggregate, since early November $1.56 billion until now. This suggests that institutional investors who previously supported ETH through ETF exposure have also turned their backs on this asset, at least for now.

On the daily chart, Ethereum price has formed multiple bearish patterns that could keep traders at bay and possibly lead to a steeper correction in the short term.

The 50-day simple moving average is approaching a cross with the 200-day average, which would form a death cross, a pattern that typically precedes a long-term downtrend and signals weakening market momentum.

According to an earlier report from crypto.news, the altcoin’s price action also appears to have formed a rounded top pattern. This is another bearish formation that often signals an exhaustion of buying pressure and can pave the way for an extended pullback.

For now, traders are most likely keeping a close eye on the $2,370 to $2,470 zone, a range that has historically acted as a strong support level earlier this year and where bulls had previously staged a successful recovery. A decisive drop below this area could open the door to bigger losses.

On a more positive note, Ethereum could potentially see a recovery rally if it manages to break the falling wedge pattern that has also formed on the daily chart. When an asset breaks out of a falling wedge, it is typically taken as a sign of an impending bullish reversal, especially if accompanied by strong volume and positive market sentiment.