Ethereum’s lacklustre performance during this bull cycle has raised major questions about its long-term viability.
ETH has posted the worst gains of any top 10 cryptocurrencies except XRP in 2024, recording a modest 7% growth year-to-date. Meanwhile, BTC is up nearly 50% YTD while Solana and BNB are up by 90% and 40%, respectively.
Unfortunately for the bulls, experts project that the Ethereum price could show more downside volatility in Q4, potentially trading as low as $1350 on October 31st.
Expert Projects Ethereum Price To Hit $1350 In December 2024
Prominent crypto analyst and founder of Into The Cryptoverse Benjamin Cowen projects ETH to continue its bearish trend for the rest of the year.
He cites that ETH/BTC broke below its macro support level earlier this year when the Ethereum price was trading at $4500. The last two times ETH/BTC fell below this key level – in 2016 and 2019 – the Ethereum price saw a subsequent 70% correction and created a local bottom at its lower logarithmic regression trend line.
ETH is already down over 47% since, currently trading at $2400. However, if the 70% correction pattern repeats, the largest altcoin could see a much steeper decline to $1350.
Notably, Cowen’s projection is decidedly the worst-case scenario. However, it isn’t unsubstantiated. For instance, prominent crypto analyst Ali Martinez highlights that the Ethereum price must continue to hold above the $2,300 support level.
A breakdown below would result in substantial downside volatility, potentially pushing ETH to $1,600.
The bearish Ethereum price predictions are contrary to the Uptober projections. After all, there is expected to be a substantial uptick in global liquidity, owing to the aggressive rate cuts in the US and China.
However, there is no lack of bearish narratives, particularly for large-cap meme coins. For instance, pro-crypto candidate Donald Trump is no longer the favourite to win the 2024 US Presidential Elections.
The latest New York Times/Sienna’s general election poll is showing a 3-point lead for Vice President Kamala Harris, a 3-point swing from its last poll.
Similarly, there is a sharp change in mark expectations regarding the pace of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing. Instead of the additional 100 bps cuts that were expected in September, the CME FedWatch is now showing the likelihood of only a 50 bps cut in 2024.
A Trump defeat along with slow easing measures could create strong selling pressure on crypto prices, especially Ethereum.
New Meme Coins Steal The Spotlight From Ethereum
New meme coins show little correlation with Bitcoin or the broader market sentiment.
For instance, coins like First Neiro On Ethereum, Moo Deng, Mog Coin and Gigachad are all stealing the spotlight from altcoins like Ethereum.
Even low-cap gems like Pepe Unchained (PEPU) are in high demand. The PEPU presale has now raised over $18 million in presale funding, thanks to large investments from whales.
PEPU is even offering in-demand utility, establishing itself as a long-term project. For instance, it is launching a Layer-2 scaling solution for meme coins on Ethereum, along with a block explorer, DEX and developer grants for new projects.
Similarly, Pepe Unchained has its own staking protocol, which is currently offering an APY of over 110%.
Owing to its unique value proposition, experts are extremely bullish on PEPU, with some experts suggesting the possibility of 50x returns.
Another low-cap meme coin Flockerz (FLOCK) is creating a strong buzz, thanks to its DAO governance and staking protocol. In particular, its novel vote-to-earn concept has impressed smart money investors, considering it offers them monetary perks for deciding the direction of the project.
There is already considerable demand for FLOCK and its ongoing ICO has raised over $538k. Experts project that the strong demand will continue after its IEO, suggesting the possibility of Flockerz offering 10x returns.
