Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, Ethher (ETH), appears to have entered lethargy in early 2025.
One sample is that when comparing ETH with other assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and XRP, noticeable differences in performance are observed.
So far, BTC has recorded a 16% drop, while SOL and XRP have recorded a 42% and 15% respectively.
but, Ethereum currency suffers more than 55% loss in 2025.
The previous graph shows that ether is one of the cryptocurrencies most affected by the outcome of the “customs war” that unleashed US President Donald Trump.
As Cryptootics reports, The President has announced mutual tariffs from 12 countriesAmong them are the European Union (EU), China, Canada, and all Latin America.
During the tensions created by the measure, he raised his taxes to 145% as Trump had taken a 90-day break in several countries, except China.
Meanwhile, Asian authorities did not stay with crossed weapons and applied tariffs on imports from the US. After dealing with Trump’s tariffs, they said they have no intention of continuing to raise taxes.
These measures have created global economic turbulence, a disadvantageous scenario of risky assets such as BTC and cryptocurrency. What happens is that in times of uncertainty, investors often want a means of not being exposed to market fluctuations such as treasure bonds.
In this unfavorable context, ETH faces additional difficulties. Lack of stories that attract new investors.
Mandela Amouse, a trader and analyst in the cryptocurrency market, argues that ETH “needs a critical catalyst.”
In one of his latest reports, Amoussou argues that one of the few catalysts that can drive ETH prices amid low performance is the approval of wagering funds cited in the US stock market (ETF).
As reported by Cryptonotics, the Ethereum Network works with a Participating Test System (POS) that allows users to leave their devices blocked on the network to obtain yields.
That is, it is built in This feature in ETFs can be more attractive to investors.
Currently, companies like Fidelity and 21shares have already presented proposals to the SEC to enable staffing, and recent advances have generated optimism in the market.
Through a regulatory entity currently chaired by Paul Atkins, the decision has been postponed until the end of the year, and has postponed the decision to allow enough time to assess possible changes to the regulations that allow staking to incorporate these financial instruments based on cryptocurrencies.
In amousou, Approval of this feature is important Because Etherum “did at this point lack the innovative and defined catalyst, as it happened during the merge.”
You need to remember that the Ethereum Merge was completed on September 15th, 2022. This is an update that changes the Work Test Mechanism (POW) to POS. This transition eliminated the need for mining and allowed transactions to be verified through resistance to staking, poor safety and network censorship.
But Amoussou also warns that “even the integration of staking into ETH’s ETH spot may not be the definitive catalyst we are so anticipating.”
His paper points out that the annual pay (TAE) is currently around 3%, which may not be attractive enough to attract new investors. Above all, considering that ETH is an unstable asset.
“Investors find REIT-centric (real estate investment trusts) that provide even greater returns are more convenient,” he adds.
Meanwhile, experts make it clear Etheric eth-ETH staking performance is lower than Solana (Sun)the annual interest rate is 8.17%. In this regard, he says:
“Come to coincide, if both ETH and Solana ETF spots are approved smoothly, the biggest Solanate probably means a decrease in etheric appeal.”
Mandela Amssau, trader and cryptocurrency market analyst.
It is important to clarify that Canary Capital, 21shares, Wisdomtree, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton have submitted requests to launch their respective ETFs based on Solana.
Not too lacking for sicking
As reported by Cryptonoticias, the Ethereum Foundation, the responsible entity that drives network development, completes the details to activate sickening. An update that promises to bring about “improvement of the history of user experience.”
This activation is effective as of April 30th and includes changes to scalability, efficiency, user experience and staking.
In this update, Amoussou thinks “it’s good for the ether,” but the EIP 7251 proposal increases the staking limit for varitators ranging from 32 ETH to 2.048 ETH to 2.048 ETH to 2.048 ETH.
Analysts believe that “stimulating concerns of centralization” as 2,048 ETHs can witness the integration of small validators with 32 ETHs in staking and low variatitors with 2,048 ETHs. He also explains:
“Centrification concerns are a major issue as they affect governance decisions within the network. Based on this, Ethereum can become a decentralized trust network that serves as the basis for the distributed finance (DEFI) and decentralized applications (DAPPS), which are the key points of the network over the years.”
Mandela Amssau, trader and cryptocurrency market analyst.
In other words, if decisions on the network are controlled by a minority, The promise of a truly distributed system is weakeningsupports your confidence in defi and dapps built on it.
Galaxy Analyst Christine Kim, an investment company, has a different vision for the situation, highlighting the only salvation that Ethereum has. Main chain (L1) is used more well.
For specialists, the ecological issues began with the activation of Dencun. This has brought about a significant improvement in the organization of data stored in L1, allowing the committee to be less likely to publish many transactions on the main network.
“Climbing through L2 spreads activity across over 50 protocols, hinders ETH prices valuation,” he explains.
Apart from the various readings of the situation, the only certainty is that ether must overcome some challenges for it to shine again in the market.
