Ethereum (ETH) faced renewed downside pressure in late trading, tumbling below the $2,500 level as selling volume surged and broader risk sentiment weakened. Global trade tensions and renewed U.S. tariff risks have triggered risk-off flows, with digital assets increasingly mirroring traditional markets in their reaction to geopolitical uncertainty.

On-chain data revealed sizable inflows to centralized exchanges — most notably 385,000 ETH to Binance —a dding to speculation that institutional players may be trimming positions. Although ETH has since recovered modestly to trade around $2,506, market observers are closely watching whether buyers can defend this level or if another leg lower is imminent.

Technical Analysis Highlights

• ETH traded within a volatile $48.61 range (1.95%) between $2,551.09 and $2,499.09.
• Price action formed a bullish ascending channel before breaking down in the final hour.
• Heavy selling emerged near $2,550, with profit-taking accelerating into a sharp reversal.
• ETH dropped from $2,521.35 to $2,499.09 between 01:53 and 01:54, with combined volume exceeding 48,000 ETH across two minutes.
• Volume normalized shortly after, and price recovered slightly, consolidating around the $2,504–$2,508 band.
• The $2,500 level is now acting as interim support, though momentum remains fragile with signs of distribution still evident in recent volume patterns.

External References

The White House has announced that it will hold the first Crypto Summit on Friday, March 7, for prominent founders, CEOs, and investors from the crypto industry, along with members from the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets. At a time when market sentiment, as measured by the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, reaches its lowest point since 2022, the new administration seeks to highlight its support for the industry’s continued growth.

The President will host and deliver remarks at the inaugural summit, and the event will be chaired by the White House’s ‘AI and Crypto Czar’ David Sacks, who posted:

President Trump will host the first White House Crypto Summit on Friday March 7. Attendees will include prominent founders, CEOs, and investors from the crypto industry. Look forward to seeing everyone there!

South African-American venture capitalist Sacks was named the White House AI and Crypto Czar last December, a newly created position to underscore the Trump administration’s dedication to the sector. Since taking office, Sacks has begun to prioritize the assessment of a US Bitcoin strategic reserve, a stablecoin regulatory framework, and new SEC guidelines to prioritize crypto.

The White House statement released late Friday doubled down on Trump’s intent to be “America’s first crypto president” and provide “a clear regulatory framework enabling innovation and protecting economic liberty” after four years of uncertainty from an administration that “unfairly prosecuted the digital asset space.”

Bitcoin maxis not impressed by Crypto Summit

The news of the summit was met with mixed responses from the crypto community, many of whose memories are still fresh from the ‘Crypto Ball’ that gathered industry movers and shakers in Washington DC ahead of the inauguration and coincided with the launch of Trump’s memecoin that soared to a market cap of $14.5 billion within hours before slumping in value by two-thirds leaving small traders underwater.

“F*** them, crypto. Disgusting Sh*tcoin show,” commented long-term Bitcoin holder and Austrian economist Carl Menger. “Just say Bitcoin. It’s honest and more transparent. 99% of crypto are online gambling tokens with no purpose or utility,” posted the Bitcoin Therapist, while many others simply implored the president not to launch another memecoin.

Mentioned in this article

Ethereum prices displayed resilience over the weekend, rapidly bouncing back from a slump following the massive hack of the Bybit crypto exchange.

The asset slumped 7% in a matter of hours on Feb. 21, falling from $2,832 to $2,629 in the wake of the $1.4 billion Bybit hack of Ethereum assets.

However, ETH tapped $2,800 in late trading on Feb. 23, following a recovery, but has lost some steam since then once again.

Bybit Closing The Gap

On Feb. 24, Lookonchain reported that the exchange had received around 446,870 ETH worth around $1.23 billion through loans, whale deposits, and ETH purchases since the hack.

Bybit co-founder and CEO Ben Zhou responded to the data, stating that the firm has “already fully closed the ETH gap” before adding that a new audited proof-of-reserves report will be published “very soon.”

Latest Update: Bybit has already fully closed the ETH gap, new audited POR report will be published very soon to show that Bybit is again Back to 100% 1:1 on client assets through merkle tree, Stay tuned. https://t.co/QLa1vOujM6

— Ben Zhou (@benbybit) February 24, 2025

Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long also responded, congratulating Zhou and hoping that he’ll share a case study on navigating the financial stress.

“The way Bitfinex handled its financial distress post-hack was creative and ultimately proved more efficient than the cost of traditional restructurings,” she said.

The hackers, which are believed to be North Korea-affiliated Lazarus Group, have been reportedly using a service called eXch to launder the loot.

On Feb. 23, Zhou said he hoped that the exchange “could reconsider and help us to block funds outflowing from them” after contacting them.

“We are also getting help from Interpol and international regulatory bodies. Helping block these funds is not just helping Bybit,” he added.

Over the weekend, Bybit reported that there had been some success in freezing assets with assistance from companies and organizations, including Tether, Circle, Avalanche, and THORChain. However, it remains a drop in the ocean compared to the total losses.

A coordinated effort led to the freezing of $42.89M in just one day. Thanks to the following teams for their swift action: @Tether_to: Flagged address and froze 181K USDT @THORChain: Blocked the blacklist @ChangeNOW_io: Froze 34 ETH @FixedFloat: Froze 120K USDC + USDT…

— Bybit (@Bybit_Official) February 23, 2025

ETH Price Outlook

Despite the initial recovery, ETH did not spend long above $2,800 and fell back to $2,740 during the Monday morning Asian session, where it found support.

The asset has been choppy for the past week, having hit resistance just above $2,800 three times while finding support just above $2,600 twice.

ETH has been within this range since it collapsed below $3,000 in early February, having shown little signs of returning to that level despite the month being bullish historically.