Ethereum appears to be stabilizing after a sharp correction. ETH is currently trading around 2950 USD after a decline of about 15.6% from January peaks, before bouncing off key support. Although at first glance the Ethereum price still looks weak (down 11% week-over-week), several hidden signals suggest that market conditions may be changing.
Three key signals have emerged in the market: the end of the bear advantage, aggressive accumulation by whales, and a sudden revival of activity on the network. Together, these signals raise an important question: is Ethereum preparing for a stronger rebound, or is it just a temporary upward move?
The downward breakdown dissipates as volume reverses and whales step into action
The recent weakness of Ethereum was not surprising. Between January 6 and 14, the price of ETH formed a bearish divergence with the relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart. During this time, the price reached a new peak, while the relative strength index (momentum indicator) formed a lower peak – which often signals trend exhaustion.
This signal proved to be perfect. Ethereum corrected by about 15.6%, dropping to the support zone at 2860 USD, after which the altcoin stabilized. Meanwhile, what changed at support is significant.
When prices were falling (from January 20 to 21), the on-balance volume (OBV) formed a higher low, indicating weakening selling pressure and accumulating supply by larger players, rather than a sell-off. OBV tracks the flow of volume – such divergence often appears around local lows.
Whales apparently reacted to this change. In the last 24 hours, the supply of Ethereum held by whales (outside exchanges) increased from 103.73 million ETH to 104.08 million ETH. This is an increase of about 350,000 ETH in one day.
At the current ETH rate, this accumulation is worth slightly over 1.03 billion USD. This, in turn, suggests that whales were not buying at the peaks. They entered after the momentum reset when the price tested key support. In other words, large wallets treated the correction as an opportunity to enter the market. However, this is probably not the only reason for these purchases.
Ethereum regains 2nd place in terms of daily unique addresses
On January 23, Ethereum returned to second place in terms of daily unique addresses (DUA) among layer 1 blockchains, second only to BNB. ETH surpassed SEI (another layer 1 project) which has recently shown significant activity due to the gaming segment. Meanwhile, opBNB (layer 2 for BNB), which often competes with ETH, still maintains a larger number of active addresses.
This matters because daily unique addresses reflect actual network usage, not price speculation. Ethereum's return to this position shows that on-chain activity in its role as layer 1 is rebuilding, even as the price remains below recent peaks. It is worth noting that SEI has long been a competitor to ETH.
Additionally, Ethereum still outperforms all major layer 2 ecosystems in terms of the growth of addresses.
This revival is also starting to appear in social media. The dominance of Ethereum in social networks has sharply increased from about 0.37% to 4.43% in the last day, briefly even reaching 5.8% before dipping slightly. Historically, local peaks of social dominance preceded short-term increases in ETH. This is the same period during which whales bought over 1 billion USD in ETH.
For example:
On January 17, a local increase in social dominance preceded a 2.1% increase in ETH in the following sessions.
On January 21, another jump preceded a 3.4% move up within 24 hours.
This does not guarantee a rally, but it shows that increased network activity earlier translated into short-term price movements. Moreover, returning to second place in the daily number of unique addresses among L1 is a fundamental reason for increased interest.
Key Ethereum price levels
The structure of the altcoin appears clear. From the bottom, the level of 2860 USD remains key support. This level ended a 15.6% correction, and then whales acted aggressively. Losing this zone would weaken the bullish scenario and open the way to lower supports.
From above, ETH must break 3010 USD, which is just 2.6% above the current price, to confirm short-term strength. A sustained increase will shift attention to 3350 USD – the resistance zone limiting the price since mid-January.
If this level is broken, the price of ETH may target higher levels around 3490 USD and 3870 USD. However, the lack of defense at 2860 USD will refocus attention back on 2770 USD and invalidate the rebound scenario.
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