Recent developments in the Ethereum market are making headlines, following comments from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on the foundation’s future role and the management of ETH sales. Buterin emphasized that the Ethereum Foundation will use its resources more selectively and efficiently moving forward, signaling a shift to reduced ETH selling under this new approach.
Ethereum Foundation’s new direction
As one of the leading nonprofit entities in the sector, the Ethereum Foundation plays a pivotal role in the ecosystem’s technical development and infrastructure. According to Buterin, the foundation will now focus on smaller-scale initiatives and prioritize long-term sustainability over broad distribution of its resources. Currently, the foundation holds just 0.16 percent of the total ETH supply—a notably low figure compared to the reserves held by many other blockchain project foundations.
Buterin has stated that supporting ETH as a financial asset is no longer the foundation’s main responsibility, suggesting that such activities are better handled by other ecosystem groups. Accordingly, the new strategy may see the Foundation delegate some responsibilities to other stakeholders within the Ethereum community.
Describing the upcoming shift, Buterin explained, “To stretch our limited resources over a longer timeframe, we are reducing our ETH sales. The Ethereum Foundation will now be more selective, putting its primary focus on meaningful and sustainable projects.”
Market sentiment and key price action
Over the weekend, Ethereum’s price dropped to as low as $2,020 before recovering by roughly 5 percent to reach $2,113, then stabilized near $2,115. Despite this small rebound, ETH lost nearly 9 percent in the last two weeks. The Ethereum Fear and Greed Index currently stands at 33, indicating clear fear in the market. According to Santiment, after Buterin’s statements, positive market sentiment surged to 76 percent, but this has not yet translated into a swift price recovery.
Data as reported on CryptoAppsy’s market screens show Ethereum currently trading at around $2,113.
Technically, support and resistance levels for ETH are becoming more defined. Since May 11, Ethereum’s price has dropped approximately 14.5 percent, falling from $2,375 to $2,031 as of May 23. According to CryptoQuant analyst Carmelo Alemán, spot trading volume has dropped sharply in the last 12 days—from 470,770 ETH down to 256,963 ETH, marking a 45.4 percent decrease. In US dollar terms, spot volume has fallen from $1.10 billion to $521.4 million.
Meanwhile, open interest in futures contracts has edged up slightly from $15.43 billion to $15.54 billion. Although positive funding rates persist, indicating that long positions are still paying margin, there is no clear momentum to drive prices up. Despite continued buying activity in the spot market, selling-side liquidity remains strong.
Critical levels ahead
For Ethereum to reclaim levels above $2,500, both short-term resistance must be broken and spot trading activity needs to pick up. The $2,100 zone remains below the expansive buying region of $1,600 to $2,600. The primary upside target is the $2,600 to $3,000 resistance range. If ETH can breach this area, a broader recovery towards the $4,200 to $5,000 band may follow. While some analysts continue to cite lofty long-term targets like $10,000, the current market structure does not support such optimism yet.
On the downside, the first critical support to watch is $1,984. A drop below this level could bring $1,937 into play. Should prices fall further below $1,600, the $1,000 to $1,300 range would become the new long-term support for ETH.
| Support Level | Resistance Level | Spot Volume (12 days) | Possible Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,984 / $1,937 | $2,600 / $3,000 | 470,770 ETH → 256,963 ETH (45.4% drop) | $4,200 / $5,000 |
Mini glossary: Santiment is a leading analytics platform in the crypto space, offering on-chain and social media data analyses. Market sentiment tracks the collective emotions and opinions of users towards a particular asset, providing key clues about investor behavior.
