Ethereum logged nine losing months in 2025, matching the depth of the 2018 bear market in terms of persistence.
Ethereum (ETH) has recorded its worst year for price performance since the depths of the 2018 bear market, posting monthly losses in nine out of twelve months in 2025.
The extended decline is leading some market observers to question the endurance of crypto’s traditional four-year boom and bust cycle, even as underlying network activity tells a different story.
A Year of Persistent Declines
Data from CoinGlass shared by market commentator Ted Pillows shows that in 2025, ETH fell in every month from February through April and again from September through December. The most severe single-month drop came in February, when the asset lost 32%. Other major monthly setbacks included a 22% fall in November and an 18.7% decline in March.
The few positive months offered limited relief, with the largest gain being a 48.8% increase in July, followed by an 18.8% rise in August. Even so, the balance tilted heavily negative, making 2025 Ethereum’s weakest year since 2018, when repeated double-digit losses, including a 53.8% crash in March of that year, defined a deep market reset after the ICO boom.
Currently, ETH is attempting to stabilize, trading around $3,020 as of early January 2026. This represents a minor 24-hour increase of 1.6%, but the cryptocurrency remains down 11.2% over the past year.
The price is hovering at a critical technical junction, sitting just above its daily 200-period moving average and a key horizontal support zone. According to analyst Daan Crypto Trades, the chart has become highly compressed, suggesting a significant move could be imminent.
A sustained daily close above the $3,000 level is viewed as necessary for upward momentum, while a drop back below it would likely extend the recent period of sideways trading.
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Building Through the Downturn
Despite last year’s gloom, on-chain metrics and developer activity paint a picture of strong health and growth, with Ethereum setting a new record by deploying 8.7 million smart contracts in a single quarter, breaking the previous record from Q2 2021.
Analysts believe that the consistent growth in deployments over several quarters shows real demand, mainly due to the growth of Layer 2 rollups, real-world asset projects, stablecoins, and wallet infrastructure.
Network usage is also climbing, with Ethereum recently processing a record 2.2 million transactions in one day while average fees have dropped to approximately $0.17, a stark contrast to the $200 fees seen during peak periods in 2022.
However, for traders, the focus remains on key price levels, with a major resistance zone sitting near $4,800. Some chart patterns suggest a breakout above that level could open a path toward $8,500. In the near term, though, the market is watching for a confirmed break from its current compressed state, with large holders continuing to accumulate ETH even as its price struggles to find lasting positive momentum.
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