Ethereum Sentiment Collapses to Early 2025 Levels; Analyst Flags ‘Major Run’ Setup
Social volume for Ethereum drops to pre-2025 rally levels as validator entry queues hit two-year highs, signaling institutional accumulation amidst retail apathy.
Ethereum (ETH) social sentiment has evaporated, returning to lows that historically precede violent upside repricing. As the asset hovers near $3,089, on-chain analytics firm Santiment reports a disconnect between retail fear and institutional behavior that mirrors the setup for last year’s 70% rally.
The Silence Before the Squeeze
Social dominance for the second-largest crypto asset has plummeted, a metric Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan flagged as a bullish divergence. “Ethereum is actually way down,” Quinlivan noted, highlighting that the current apathy is “reminiscent of what we saw before Ethereum went on its major run last year.”
The data points to a specific fractal: In early 2025, similar capitulation paved the way for a four-month surge that saw ETH climb from a yearly low of $1,472 (April) to reclaim its 2021 all-time high of $4,878 on August 23.
“This is kind of reminiscent of what we saw before Ethereum went on its major run last year,” Brian Quinlivan, Santiment
Smart Money Locks In
While retail traders express doubt on X (formerly Twitter), the protocol’s plumbing tells a different story. Validator entry queues have hit a two-year high, while the exit queue dropped to a six-month low of just 32 validators. This indicates that despite price stagnation, large-scale capital is locking ETH for yield rather than liquidating.
Current market structure suggests a standoff: ETH is consolidating 36% below its August peak, with $2,800 acting as critical support. If the historical pattern of “peak fear” holds, the lack of social hype may once again act as the fuel for a contrarian reversal.
