November has been a whirlwind month for crypto enthusiasts.

Ethereum (ETH), once the undisputed king of decentralized finance (DeFi), faces fierce competition as rival blockchains gain momentum.

With Bitcoin’s resurgence and political tailwinds from Donald Trump’s campaign energizing markets, Ethereum’s position is being tested.

This prompts the questions from ETH maximalists: Is ETH dead? Will it bounce back?

I will discuss why ETH is plummeting and what hopes there are for ETH.

Let’s dive in.

What’s Holding ETH Back?

Ethereum was created to be more flexible than Bitcoin and has maintained its #2 position just below the cryptocurrency king.

It started with the whole change of switching from POW to POS consensus mechanism.

This was in a bid to make Ethereum blockchain scalable and the later upgrades were meant to work on reducing the fees.

But the team been unable to achieve its intent.

The price of ETH climbed 25% over the past month, reaching $3,450 on November 22 2024.

While this marks steady growth, its performance lagged behind that of its major contenders in the smart contract and DeFi ecosystems.

This disparity has raised concerns about Ethereum’s inability to hit $4,000 in this market cycle.

Aside the aforementioned reason, skeptics point to challenges such as its complex architecture and slowing deflationary trends.

Ethereum’s transition to deflationary economics hasn’t been as impactful as hoped.

ETH officially became deflationary in September 2022, but the expansion of Layer-2 networks in 2024 has slowed this trend.

Not to mention the wrong timing of the spot ETH ETFs.

Yes, there was a little activity in the past days but the spark has dimmed again.

Other pointers are people saying that ETH is a hard sell. By this, they mean that Ethereum has no clear proposition.

Let me explain: ETH lacks a clear identity of what it is known for.

BTC owns the store of value narrative, SOL is know for its crazy scalability, DOT champions interoperability, etc.

It becomes somehow hard to sell ETH value to investors.

But, even with these challenges, there are still bullish signs for Ethereum.

I will talk about that below.

5 Reasons Why Ethereum Will Bounce Back

1. Cyclical Bottom in ETH/BTC Ratio

Renowned trader, Peter Brandt, identified a cyclical bottom in the ETH/BTC price ratio.

Historically, this has been known as a precursor to ETH outperforming BTC.

A cyclical bottom is a chart pattern that indicates an asset’s price has entered a bullish uptrend after a downward trend. 

Traders may look for this pattern and buy at the low point, then capitalize on the uptrend once it breaks above a resistance level. 

His analysis suggests Ethereum could be poised for a strong rally against Bitcoin.

2. $6,000 Price Prediction

Crypto analyst, Ali Martinez, predicted that Ethereum could peak at $6,000 during this market cycle.

His pointers include:

• historical patterns of ETH outperforming BTC during late-cycle rallies, and
• institutional accumulation of ETH spot ETFs (with inflows exceeding $147 million between August and November)

3. Soaring DApp Activity

Ethereum’s dominance in DeFi remains unchallenged.

Data shows a 38% surge in decentralized application (DApp) activity over the past month.

The record went up to $150 billion in transaction volume.

This crushes the records of competitors like Arbitrum ($32 billion) and Binance Coin ($26 billion),

This reinforces Ethereum’s position as the leading blockchain for DeFi applications.

4. Ethereum vs. Solana Rivalry

Solana made headlines with a 53% price gain in November, surpassing Ethereum’s growth.

However, when you consider ecosystem performance, Ethereum’s top Layer-2 utilities and meme tokens did better.

They delivered a cumulative ROI of 220% as against Solana’s 200%.

Again, what makes Ethereum’s performance particularly noteworthy is its larger market cap ($423 billion vs. Solana’s $129 billion).

Attaining a comparable ROI with a significant large market size demonstrates Ethereum’s resilience and market depth.

5. Institutional Backing Fuels Confidence

Institutional investors continue to show strong conviction in Ethereum.

Beyond simply holding ETH, many institutions are staking their assets to secure the network while earning yield.

• Staking Growth: Ethereum stakers increased by 30% over the past year (over one million stakers and counting)
• Liquid Staking Tokens: Over 52% of institutional participants use liquid staking tokens.

Conclusion: Is Ethereum Dead?

To answer the question:NO, ETH IS NOT DEAD! NOT EVEN CLOSE TO IT.

Ethereum’s competition has intensified; no doubt about this.

But its:

• established leadership in DeFi
• growing institutional interest, and
• bullish technical signals suggest it remains a strong investment.

With experts projecting a potential peak of $6,000, ETH is far from ceding its position in the crypto market.

As the year 2025 approaches, ETH’s performance against its contenders will likely define the next phase of the blockchain revolution.

So tell me: Are you an ETH maximalist?

What are your thoughts on the future of Ethereum in the coming bull market and beyond.

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Till my next post, hodl on… do not yield!