BTC
$106,229.74
-
1.17%
ETH
$2,663.32
+
0.50%
USDT
$0.9999
-
0.01%
XRP
$2.2763
+
0.45%
BNB
$679.90
-
1.11%
SOL
$167.86
-
1.86%
USDC
$0.9998
+
0.00%
DOGE
$0.2185
-
0.49%
ADA
$0.7326
-
1.28%
TRX
$0.2751
+
0.45%
SUI
$3.5766
+
0.06%
HYPE
$32.35
-
2.77%
LINK
$15.23
-
1.61%
AVAX
$22.67
-
1.72%
XLM
$0.2816
-
0.30%
TON
$3.4247
+
3.16%
LEO
$9.1051
+
0.34%
SHIB
$0.0₄1413
-
0.51%
BCH
$411.80
-
0.18%
HBAR
$0.1820
-
0.99%
Logo
  • News
  • Prices
  • Data
  • Indices
  • Research
  • Events
  • Sponsored
  • Sign In
  • Sign Up
Markets
Share this article
X iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmail

Ether Prices Fall to Lowest Since February as Sentiment Sours

The price of ether fell below $6 during the week through 9th December, reaching its lowest point since February.

By Charles Lloyd Bovaird II
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:44 p.m. Published Dec 10, 2016, 2:35 p.m.
wilting-flowers

Markets Weekly is a weekly column analyzing price movements in the global blockchain token markets. This edition looks at the week from 3rd through 9th December.

screen-shot-2016-12-09-at-5-30-33-pm
screen-shot-2016-12-09-at-5-30-33-pm
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

The price of ether extended recent losses this week, falling to its lowest in more than nine months.

Over the seven-day period, the blockchain token declined to as little as $5.98 on 6th December, its lowest price since late February. This figure, which beat the previous nine-month low set the previous day, represented a 22.9% decline from the cryptocurrency’s opening price of $7.76 on 3rd December.

The continued struggles faced by the digital currency are now translating into frustration for traders and market influencers.

"The novelty is wearing off," said Tim Enneking, chairman of cryptocurrency hedge fund EAM.

Enneking argued that ether, despite its original hype, is simply behaving as most blockchain tokens historically have, riding high on a "flavor of the month effect" before tapering off.

Enneking told CoinDesk:

"The major ones are greeted with acclaim, skyrocket and then plunge to earth. Look at Zcash and, further back, Litecoin. All the same thing."

Fading star

That the price of the protocol's token is sputtering is perhaps not surprising. As a technology, ethereum has run into numerous challenges of late, undergoing several hard forks and one network split in 2016.

Most recently, ethereum underwent a hard fork (a technical change during which all of its users have to opt in to a new version of the blockchain) in an attempt to make it easier for developers to remove the after-effects of an attack.

Then, only a few days later, the platform suffered a mini fork when two of its clients, Geth and Parity, failed to implement the latest hard fork the same way.

Petar Zivkovski, director of operations for leveraged bitcoin trading platform Whaleclub, summed the platform’s situation up by calling its growth "lackluster".

"Recent events [have] majorly undermined its attractiveness to new money and new developers," he told CoinDesk.

Amid the challenges, ether prices have been experiencing "a long, downward trend," said algorithmic trader Jacob Eliosoff.

Yet, he stressed that the recent dip below $6 was only temporary, as ether prices surpassed $8 on 7th December and reached a weekly high of $8.86 the following day, CoinMarketCap data shows.

Bitcoin remains buoyant

But while ether has recovered over the last few days, bitcoin continually exceeded $770 during the week, putting the digital currency firmly within reach of surpassing its annual high of $781.31.

At the time of reporting, bitcoin prices had reached as much as $772.47 in the past seven days, according to BPI figures.

Both Zivkovski and Enneking credited China and India with helping fuel these price gains – the former nation provoking the concern of its citizens by imposing capital controls and repeatedly taking steps to devalue the yuan.

While such macroeconomic events helped drive bitcoin prices higher, the digital currency also benefited from growing enthusiasm, Zivkovski told CoinDesk.

There has been "a spike in interest in bitcoin around the world and an unprecedented transfer of wealth from altcoins to bitcoin", he said, adding:

"This indicates that investors in cryptocurrency do not feel they've been rewarded well for the risk they've taken investing in altcoins over the past few years and are now looking for a less risky (albeit still risky) alternative."

In spite of the digital currency's resilience, Eliosoff provided a cautionary note, emphasizing that he is unsure who exactly is purchasing bitcoin at its recent values.

"My guess is the usual, Chinese investors seeking store-of-value, but if there's data to support it their Indian counterparts may be playing a role too," he told CoinDesk.

Bullish sentiment

Even though bitcoin has been repeatedly nearing its annual high, there is evidence that traders are rather bullish about the digital currency's future prospects.

The market has been more than 80% long in the 30-day, 60-day and 90-day periods through 9th December, Whaleclub data reveals. The market has been particularly bullish over the last week, as it was 88% long during the seven days through 9th December.

"In aggregate, the average holding time for long positions has almost tripled in the past three months alone," said Zivkovski.

He said:

"This indicates that traders see little downside and have a longer bullish time horizon with respect to bitcoin."

He added that, while there are bearish wagers, these bets are more rare. "We do see large shorts come in occasionally, but they are held almost 25 times less time than longs."

As bitcoin continues to obtain greater adoption, this growing acceptance could combine with heavily bullish sentiment to fuel some impressive gains.

Wilting flowers image via Shutterstock

price-newsEthereumMarkets WeeklyMarketsFeatures
Charles Lloyd Bovaird II

Charles Lloyd Bovaird II is a financial writer and editor with strong knowledge of asset markets and investing concepts. He has worked for financial institutions including State Street, Moody's Analytics and Citizens Commercial Banking. An author of over 1,000 publications, his work has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Business Insider, Washington Post, Investopedia and elsewhere. An advocate of financial literacy, Charles created all the industrial finance training for a company with more than 300 people and spoke at industry events across the world. In addition, he delivered speeches on financial literacy for Mensa and Boston Rotaract.

X icon
CoinDesk News Image
Latest Crypto News
Article image

Bitcoin Whales Seem to Be Calling a Top as BTC Price Consolidates

8 hours ago

Bitcoin (BTC) price on May 19 (CoinDesk)

Bitcoin Climbs to $105K; Crypto ETF Issuer Sees 35% Upside

8 hours ago

Breaking News

Breaking New test

11 hours ago

FastNews (CoinDesk)

Fast News test

11 hours ago

Article image

Ethereum Surges 4% on Massive Volume as Institutional Interest Grows.

May 27, 2025

Article image

test research article

May 22, 2025

Top Stories
President Donald Trump (TheDigitalArtist/Pixabay)

Bitcoin Poised to Top Record as Trump Inauguration Nears, Major Coins Due for 10% Swings: Traders

Jan 16, 2025

SHIB-USD 1-month chart shows 24.57% gain ending at $0.00004146 on May 15

Shiba Inu (SHIB) Price Drops 7% in 24 Hours but Remains Up 25% Over the Past Month

May 15, 2025

(CJ/Unsplash)

XRP Futures Start Trading on CME

May 19, 2025

Tax sign (The New York Public Library/Unsplash)

Crypto Capital Gains and Tax Rates 2022

Nov 14, 2022

Swap

Atomic Swaps: What Are They & How Do They Work?

Jan 11, 2024

Bitcoin (BTC) price on May 19 (CoinDesk)

Bitcoin Climbs to $105K; Crypto ETF Issuer Sees 35% Upside

8 hours ago

Only 1 article remaining this month.

Sign up for free

About

  • About Us
  • Masthead
  • Careers
  • CoinDesk News
  • Crypto API Documentation

Contact

  • Contact Us
  • Accessibility
  • Advertise
  • Sitemap
  • System Status
DISCLOSURE & POLICES
CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.
EthicsPrivacyTerms of UseCookie SettingsDo Not Sell My Info

© 2025 CoinDesk, Inc.
X icon
Sign Up
  • News
    Back to menu
    News
    • Markets
    • Finance
    • Tech
    • Policy
    • Focus
  • Prices
    Back to menu
    Prices
    • Data
      Back to menu
      Data
      • Trade Data
      • Derivatives
      • Order Book Data
      • On-Chain Data
      • API
      • Research & Insights
      • Data Catalogue
      • AI & Machine Learning
    • Indices
      Back to menu
      Indices
      • Multi-Asset Indices
      • Reference Rates
      • Strategies and Services
      • API
      • Insights & Announcements
      • Documentation & Governance
    • Research
      Back to menu
      Research
      • Events
        Back to menu
        Events
        • Consensus Hong Kong
        • Consensus 2026
        • CoinDesk: Policy & Regulation
      • Sponsored
        Back to menu
        Sponsored
        • Thought Leadership
        • Press Releases
        • CoinW
        • MEXC
        • Phemex
        • Advertise
      • Videos
        Back to menu
        Videos
        • CoinDesk Daily
        • Shorts
        • Editor's Picks
      • Podcasts
        Back to menu
        Podcasts
        • CoinDesk Podcast Network
        • Markets Daily
        • Gen C
        • Unchained with Laura Shin
        • The Mining Pod
      • Newsletters
        Back to menu
        Newsletters
        • The Node
        • Crypto Daybook Americas
        • State of Crypto
        • Crypto Long & Short
        • Crypto for Advisors
      • Webinars & Events
        Back to menu
        Webinars & Events
        • Consensus 2025
        • Policy & Regulation Conference
      Select Language
      English enEspañol esFilipino filFrançais frItaliano itPortuguês pt-brРусский ruУкраїнська uk