Ethher (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, seems to have entered a lethargy at the beginning of 2025. A sample of this is that, when comparing ETH with other assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (Sun) or XRP, there is a remarkable difference in performance. To put it in perspective, so far this year, BTC records a 16%drop, while Sol and XRP of 42%and 15%, respectively. However, The Ethereum currency suffers a loss of more than 55% in 2025.
Ether's price fell 55% so far from 2025. Source: Seeking Alpha. The previous graph shows that Ether is one of the cryptocurrencies most affected by the consequences of the «tariff war» unleashed by the president of the United States, Donald Trump. As cryptootics has reported, The president announced reciprocal tariffs for a dozen countriesamong which are the European Union (EU), China, Canada and all of Latin America. In the midst of the tensions generated by the measure, Trump had a 90 -day break for several countries, except for China, to which he raised taxes to 145%. The Asian authorities, meanwhile, did not stay with crossed arms and also applied tariffs to imports from the United States. After responding to Trump's tariffs, they said they do not intend to continue raising taxes. These measures have generated an economic turbulence globally, an unfavorable scenario for the assets considered at risk such as BTC and cryptocurrencies. What happens is that, in times of uncertainty, investors often seek instruments less exposed to market fluctuations, such as treasure bonds. In this adverse context, ETH faces an additional difficulty: The lack of a narrative that attracts new investors. Mandela Amoussou, Trader and Analyst of the cryptocurrency market, argues that ETH «needs a decisive catalyst.» In one of his latest reports, Amoussou argues that one of the few catalysts capable of promoting the price of ETH in the midst of its low performance would be the approval of staking in the funds quoted in the stock market (ETF) in the United States. As Cryptonotics reported, the Ethereum network works with a participation test system (POS), allowing users to obtain yields by leaving their assets blocked on the network. That is, incorporate This functionality in ETFs could make them more attractive to investors. Currently, firms such as Fidelity and 21Shares have already presented their proposals to the SEC to enable staffing, and recent advances have generated optimism in the market. Through a document, the regulatory entity, currently chaired by Paul Atkins, postponed the decision until the end of the year, to have enough time to evaluate possible modifications in the regulations that would allow the staking to incorporate these financial instruments based on cryptocurrencies. For amoussou, The approval of this functionality will be important Because Ethereum «lacks an innovative and defining catalyst at this time, such as the one that occurred during the Merge.» It should be remembered that on September 15, 2022 the Ethereum Merge From the network. volatile asset. On the other hand, the specialist clarifies that ETHER's ETH -ETH staking performance would be lower than Solana (Sun)whose annual interest is 8.17%. In this regard, he says:
«If by chance the standking is approved, both for ETH and for the ETF Spot of Solana, the largest Solana tae will probably mean a decrease in the appeal for Ether.» Mandela Amoussou, Trader and Cryptocurrency Market Analyst.
It is important to clarify that Canary Capital, 21Shares, Wisdomtree, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton have submitted their requests to launch their respective ETFs based on Solana, although they were not yet approved by the SEC.
Missing less for sicking
As Cryptonoticias reported, the Ethereum Foundation, an entity responsible for promoting the development of the network, finalizes the details to activate sicking, An update that promises to bring the «greater improvement in history in user experience.»
The activation would be effective as of April 30 and includes modifications in scalability, efficiency, user experience and staking. On this update, Amoussou believes that “it will be a good thing for Ether”, although the Eip 7251 proposal will bring an increase in the staking limits for the validators, which will go from 32 ETH to 2.048 ETH. The analyst believes that «it raises some centralization concerns, because we could witness the consolidation of smaller validators with 32 ETH in Staking, in a lower number of validators with 2,048 Eth in Staking.» Also, he explains:
«The concern for centralization is a big problem because it influences the decisions of governance in the network. And based on this, Ethereum can be on the way to ceasing to be the decentralized and confidence network that served as a basis for decentralized finance (DEFI) and decentralized applications (DAPPS), which have been the main points of sale of the network over the years.» Mandela Amoussou, Trader and Cryptocurrency Market Analyst.
In other words, if the decisions on the network are controlled by a few, The promise of a truly decentralized system weakenswhich supports confidence in Defi and in the DAPPs built on it. Christine Kim, a Galaxy analyst, an investment company, has a different vision of the situation and highlights that the only salvation that Ethereum has It is a greater use of the main chain (L1). For the specialist, the ecosystem problems began since the activation of Dencun, an update that brought significant improvements in the organization of data stored in the L1, and that allows second -layer networks (L2) to spend less on commissions when they publish lots of transactions in the main network. «The climbing through L2 has dispersed the activity in more than 50 protocols, hindering the appreciation of the ETH price,» he explains. Apart from the different readings of the situation, the only certainty is that Ether must overcome several challenges to shine again in the market.
