Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.

Ethereum has had a pretty wild start to the year — and not in the way most bulls would’ve hoped. While Bitcoin is hanging around breakeven for the year, up just 0.70% year-to-date, Ethereum is still down over 45% since January. That’s a serious divergence for two assets that usually move in tandem.

Despite that underperformance, things might not be as bearish as they seem at first glance. Zooming out to the daily and weekly charts, Ethereum has shown signs of resilience even after months of downside pressure. The breakdown below the 3600s in December kicked off a steady downtrend, and since then ETH has mostly stayed in bearish structure on the higher timeframes.

Don’t Miss:

• Trade crypto futures on Plus500 with up to $200 in bonuses — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different strategies.

• Grow your IRA or 401(k) with Crypto – unlock  the power of alternative investments including a Crypto IRA within your retirement account.

But recently, ETH broke above a significant daily high from April 9, which came in at 1688. That kind of move is worth paying attention to. When you get a break of structure like that, bulls want to see that level hold as support if price pulls back — it becomes a key pivot for continuation.

Some important context:

• ETF inflows were weak between February and early April, with only four days of positive flow.

• On April 22, ETH ETFs saw a $38 million inflow, followed by a $100 million inflow on April 25.

• While notable, these numbers are still small compared to late 2023, when daily inflows exceeded $350 million.

Looking at structure, ETH is still technically bearish on the weekly. There hasn’t been a clear higher high and higher low just yet, which would signal a full trend shift. But the daily chart has given a glimpse of strength, and that’s where things get interesting.

Trending: New to crypto? Get up to $400 in rewards for successfully completing short educational courses and making your first qualifying trade on Coinbase.

Currently, ETH is trading within a short-term consolidation range between 1838 and 1721. This kind of coiling price action can be the calm before a larger move, especially since Bitcoin is also consolidating near its yearly open. Watching how ETH behaves around these range levels can give traders clues about where momentum might go next.

Key levels to watch:

• 1688 — recently broken daily high; bulls want to see this flip to support

• 1957 — April’s monthly high and next upside target if momentum continues

• Low 1600s — downside risk if ETH loses key support and fails to hold recent gains