Ethereum Price Faces Setback After Failing to Break $4,000 Resistance Again
Ethereum’s (ETH) price has slipped 6.35% from its Monday peak of $4,109, following its third failed attempt in 2024 to solidify the $4,000 level as support. This recurring resistance highlights a significant challenge for ETH bulls to push the price into a sustained breakout.
Ethereum Struggles with $4,000 Resistance
As seen on the weekly chart, $4,000 has been a critical resistance level for Ethereum since 2021. Despite multiple attempts—including five tests since 2021 and three this year—Ethereum has failed to close above this mark convincingly.
Ethereum 1-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The inability to break past this level signals potential exhaustion among buyers, triggering sell-offs and bearish sentiment in the short term.
Futures Traders Lean Bearish on Ethereum
The Ethereum futures market also paints a bearish picture. According to CoinGlass, Ethereum’s futures open interest surged to an all-time high of $28.70 billion on December 17. However, sentiment has shifted, with aggregated futures premiums turning negative for the first time since November 6.
Ethereum aggregated open interest and spot volumes. Source: Velo.data
The shift indicates an increasing number of short positions overpowering longs. Notably, the ETH long/short ratio dropped to 0.9 between December 16–17, reinforcing the view that short sellers are gaining dominance.
Key Technical Levels to Watch for Ethereum
Despite bearish signals, Ethereum’s broader market structure remains in an uptrend with higher highs (HHs) and higher lows (HLs).
From a technical perspective, ETH may retest the $3,715–$3,628 range, which aligns with a fair value gap (FVG) and support from the 200-day EMA.
Ethereum 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
This level holds additional significance as cumulative long liquidation leverage between $3,700 and $3,800 exceeds $500 million. Historically, such liquidity zones can trigger reversals once cleared.
On the flip side, short-leveraged positions remain heavily concentrated between $3,850 and $4,200. As a result, ETH/USD could face a period of volatile and choppy price action in the near term.
Market Sentiment: What’s Next for Ethereum?
Market analysts remain cautiously optimistic about Ethereum’s longer-term outlook. Futures analyst Byzantine General commented:
“$ETH is hard to read at the moment IMO. I could see a lot of bullshit happen between $4,000 & $3,500, but eventually I don’t see how this resolves any other way than up.”
While immediate sentiment remains bearish, Ethereum’s fundamentals and market structure suggest that a decisive move—whether a breakout or another retest—is on the horizon. Investors will closely monitor the $3,700 support and the $4,000 resistance in the coming days.
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