The Ethereum price has been under pressure this year, having dropped by 56% from its November high. 

Ethereum’s (ETH) performance has been worse compared to other top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL). In fact, Ethereum has dropped to a record low against SOL, and is hovering at its 2020 lows against BTC.

This performance has led some investors and analysts to question whether Ethereum is dead. In a YouTube video on Thursday, Charles Hoskinson, Cardano’s (ADA) founder, predicted that Ethereum wouldn’t be around in the next 15 years.

He pointed to the growth of layer-2 networks like Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Polygon, which have continued to gain market share. These chains have largely taken users from Ethereum, a chain known for slow speeds and high transaction costs.

However, a closer look at top network data reveals that Ethereum is far from heading to its demise. Its decentralized exchange protocols handled over $57 billion in volume over the last 30 days, making it the second-biggest chain after Solana, whose protocols handled $61.3 billion in the same period.

Ethereum is also the biggest chain in terms of total value locked. It has a TVL $107 billion, giving it a 57% market share. Its stablecoin market cap of $124 billion represents a 51% market share. It remains the biggest chain in the non-fungible token industry as well.

Additionally, Santiment data shows that the number of Ethereum holders has continued rising. It now has over 144.8 million holders, up from 130 million in October last year. Furthermore, the five-year Mean Dollar Invested Age has increased to 658, indicating that older holders are not selling.

Ethereum technical analysis: $2150 is the key price to watch

The daily chart shows that ETH price has bounced back after bottoming at $1,383 earlier this month. It has rebounded to $1,787, its highest level since April 6.

The coin has moved above the upper boundary of the falling channel that had formed since last November. It has also jumped above the 25-day moving average and formed a small bullish flag pattern.

The Awesome Oscillator is about to move above the zero line. It jumped above that level lastly in November, triggering a 40% jump.

Therefore, the key Ethereum price level to watch will be at $2,150, the lowest point in August and September last year. A break above that level will signal more gains, potentially to $3,000. Failure to move above that level is risky because it will signal a break-and-retest pattern, which would indicate further downside.