Ethereum’s value falls below $2,600 puts the altseason at danger, but experts remain hopeful about a robust comeback due to the piling of ETH whales.
The price of Ethereum has plummeted by a strong 8% today, falling below $2,500 levels amid a wider downturn in the cryptocurrency market. With a decline of almost 23% so far this month, the biggest cryptocurrency in the world is headed for its worst February ever. Additionally, the recent attack of the Bybit exchange has tempered interest in ETH. Market analysts, however, continue to hold out optimism for a possible improvement in the future.
Ethereum price to end February on the worst note?
According to SpotOnChain’s on-chain statistics, if the price of Ethereum drops below $2,400, it may have its worst February performance. February has historically been a positive month for ETH; in 2018, there was only one dip noted. The recent 23% decline, nevertheless, poses a challenge to that pattern.
The Trump administration’s new tariffs have added a great deal of pressure to the macroeconomic uncertainty that has been plaguing the bitcoin market.
At the time of writing, the price of Ethereum is down 8.44% at $2,491, while daily trading volumes have increased by 30% to over $30 billion. Crypto researcher Ali Martinez believes that if the price of Ethereum is unable to hold onto support near $2,600, the much awaited altseason may be disrupted. This support level is essential to prevent sliding below the upward-trending channel, as seen in the graphic below.
Market analysts continue to remain optimistic
On-chain data indicates that investor interest hasn’t diminished enough despite the sharp decline in the price of ETH. Ethereum whales, on the other hand, appear to be strongly accumulating.
Addresses with between 10,000 and 100,000 ETH have seen a 24% growth in balances over the previous 12 months, according to statistics from CryptoQuant. These collecting addresses have a cost base of $2,199, whilst Ethereum is now trading at $2,505. Inflows from smaller wallets with fewer than 1,000 ETH have been the main driver of the rise in big wallet balances, indicating a redistribution of supply across the ecosystem.
Furthermore, Ki Young Ju, CEO of Crypto Quant, pointed out that the price of Ethereum has not been significantly impacted by sell pressure following the latest Bybit attack. With 56% of the stablecoin market value, Ethereum is the market leader. According to Ki, more businesses will use ETH-based stablecoins and smart contracts in 2025 as a result of the Trump administration’s relaxation of crypto rules.
Furthermore, Ethereum already enjoys a regulatory tailwind thanks to the approval of its spot ETF. According to Ki, this may lead to a “Large Cap ETF altseason,” which might propel ETH’s growth in the upcoming year. Additionally, things could become better in the future now that the Ethereum Pectra update is available on the Holesky testnet.
Bybit repays $100M ETH loans
Crypto exchange Bybit is acting quickly to normalize operations after its attack over the weekend, gaining 100% Ethereum within 48 hours of opening. Crypto exchange Bybit has quickly paid back a $100 million loan of 40,000 Ethereum to another exchange, Bitget, according to Arkham Intelligence’s on-chain data. The three-day payback period demonstrates Bybit’s ability to promptly handle financial commitments in the wake of recent market occurrences.
However, in the last two and a half days, Bybit hackers have laundered 89,500 ETH, which is equivalent to almost $224 million. This amounts to 18% of the 499,000 ETH that were taken in the incident. Within the following two weeks, the hackers allegedly hope to convert the remaining 410,000 ETH into other assets including DAI and Bitcoin (BTC). Their main instrument for cross-chain asset trades has been determined to be THORChain.
US Authorities seize crypto worth $31M linked to Uranium Finance breach
One of the biggest DeFi attacks, the Uranium Finance breach allowed the hacker to drain liquidity pools by taking advantage of a smart contract vulnerability that occurred after its V2.1 update.
In a significant development some four years after the attack, US authorities have confiscated almost $31 million in bitcoin linked to the 2021 Uranium Finance breach.
In an X post on Monday, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) confirmed the seizure and credited a cooperative operation with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego for the recovery.
Uranium Finance, a platform based on the Binance Smart Chain and a Uniswap fork, was the victim of one of the biggest decentralized finance (DeFi) attacks at the time. During the platform’s transition to its V2.1 update, a serious vulnerability in its smart contract code was taken advantage of.
SDNY and @HSISanDiego seize cryptocurrency worth approximately $31 million related to April 2021 hack of Uranium Finance. If you believe you have been a victim of this hack, please contact [email protected].
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) February 24, 2025
How a tiny calculation error led to a multi-million dollar breach
The hacker was able to deplete liquidity pools by inflating reported balances due to a weakness, notably a math mistake in the balance modifier algorithm.
The stolen assets included 80 BTC, 1,800 ETH, 17.9 million BUSD, 5.7 million USDT, 638,000 ADA, 26,500 DOT, 34,000 wBNB, and 112,000 of Uranium’s native coin, U92. The losses totaled an astounding $50 million.
The criminal moved swiftly to launder the stolen money, using AnySwap, a cross-chain bridge, to move assets from BSC to Ethereum and Tornado Cash, an Ethereum mixer, to hide the transaction history.
Uranium Finance eventually stopped business as a result of the exploit, leaving investors without any quick redress.
Inside job or bad timing? Suspicions surround Uranium Finance hack
Serious questions concerning DeFi’s smart contract security were brought up by the occurrence. Uranium Finance’s code has a minor but disastrous flaw in spite of being audited. This defect revealed flaws in the way Uniswap’s structure was modified for BSC.
Suspicions were heightened by the attack’s timing. It happened a few days following the V2 deployment of the platform. Soon after, rumors of an inside job were stoked when Uranium’s contract repository was taken down from GitHub. Given that the site had previously seen a $1.3 million breach earlier that month, these worries only intensified. This made its security procedures even more closely scrutinized.
In the ever-changing world of crypto fraud, authorities’ most recent recovery attempts represent a major step toward bringing fraudsters accountable. Investigators have been following the stolen money since the theft, which the hacker tried to launder in a number of ways, including transfers into centralized exchanges and, in a strange turn of events, buying rare Magic: The Gathering cards.
Even while the $31 million that was confiscated is a small portion of the entire amount taken, it demonstrates how law enforcement is becoming more adept at tracking down illegal blockchain transactions in spite of advanced money laundering methods.
Analyst predicts XRP price may slip to $1.6 if it drops below this support
A leading analyst pointed out important levels of support for the price of XRP and stated that the native asset of Ripple may continue to decline below $1.6 if it falls below a crucial defensive line.
Amidst a wider crypto market meltdown, the price of XRP has continued to plummet today, dropping more than 9%. A prominent market expert has indicated important support areas for Ripple’s native asset in the midst of this, while also raising the possibility of a decline to $1.6. Therefore, let’s quickly review the coin’s present performance and speculate about its potential future performance.
XRP price risks falling to $1.6
Today’s trading in the larger cryptocurrency market has been bleak, with the majority of the leading assets trading down. In the midst of this, the price of XRP dropped 9.4% to $2.25, but its one-day trading volume increased 139% to $8.33 billion.
It’s important to note that the cryptocurrency has fallen from its 24-hour peak of $2.6. Additionally, the asset’s Relative Strength Index is getting close to the oversold state, which might support a robust rebound in the future. Additionally, the token’s Futures Open Interest dropped 15% to $3.18 billion, indicating that investors’ risk-bet appetite is decreasing.
What’s next for Ripple (XRP) price?
Leading market analyst EGRAG CRYPTO has provided insight into the crucial support levels to keep an eye on as the price of XRP plummeted. EGRAG CRYPTO predicts that XRP might fall below $1.60 if it is unable to maintain its present support level.
EGRAG CRYPTO published a price chart and emphasized the significance of the $2.30 mark in a recent X post. “Our key focus now is not to drop below $2.30, as that could trigger a free fall to lower targets” he warned.
The specialist also underlined the possibility of range-bound movement until a breakthrough happens. The following crucial levels were discovered by him:
- Closing below $2.30: Bearish
- Closing above $2.60: Bullish
- Closing above $2.85: Super Bullish
- Closing above $3.11: Heading towards all-time highs (ATH) and potentially setting new ones!
However, as the price of XRP continues to fluctuate, investors will be constantly monitoring these levels.
#XRP – 12 Hour time Frame: (Updated):
Take a look at the previous post from February 12, but I’ll simplify things for you! check the colored comment
The Updated Chart:
We closed above $2.60, which is a bullish sign! 🚀 However, we struggled to close above $2.85. Our key… https://t.co/nXkZQsgEnL pic.twitter.com/17Jx8j2j5a— EGRAG CRYPTO (@egragcrypto) February 24, 2025
Market trends & other factors impacting price
Despite a wave of encouraging events in the cryptocurrency sector, particularly with regard to Ripple, the price of XRP has recently declined. For background, Donald Trump recently fueled market debates by mentioning XRP and Ripple on the Truth Social platform.
In addition, it fueled the continuing discussion between Bitcoin and XRP and sparked rumors about the prospect of a US XRP Reserve. In the midst of this, a leading attorney also offered insight into the future of the Bitcoin vs. Ripple conflict.
In spite of these patterns, it seems that the Ripple whales are trading cautiously in the midst of the current downturn. To put things in perspective, whales have lately sold over 81 million coins to exchanges, which has further depressed the value of the commodity.
