Key takeaways:

• Ether is trading near $3,200 as weaker network utilization and economic uncertainty in the U.S. limit its price growth.

• Layer 2 networks power most of Ethereum’s activity, but cheaper competing blockchains reduce the chance that Ether will soon regain $4,000.

The price of ether (ETH) has repeatedly failed to stay above $3,300 over the past 60 days, prompting traders to wonder whether a sustained uptrend is still possible in 2026. Despite the Ethereum network making vital improvements and maintaining its leading position in terms of deposits, investors are concerned that the chances of regaining the $4,000 level remain low.

Ether’s performance since November has closely tracked the capitalization of the broader cryptocurrency market. As a result, the lack of optimism appears to be due more to weaker overall employ of decentralized applications (DApps) than to issues specific to the Ethereum ecosystem. Whether or not investors’ concerns stem from broader economic risks, ETH’s near-term price upside appears constrained.

Ether tracks the broader cryptocurrency market with weaker application usage

Regardless of the factors influencing bullish cryptocurrency investors, investors have shown less interest in DApps, which has been reflected in the decline in activity on decentralized exchanges (DEX). According to DefiLlama, total DEX volume over the past two weeks was $150.4 billion, down 55% from the record high of $340 billion recorded in January 2025.

Ethereum’s 7-day DEX volumes have reached nearly $9 billion after hitting a high of $27.8 billion in October 2025. This 65% pullback resulted in an 87% drop in Ethereum network fees to $2.6 million from $21.3 million three months earlier. Despite this, the Ethereum ecosystem still dominates, accounting for approximately 50% of DEX activity when combining data from Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and other Layer 2 solutions.

Ethereum’s leading position in total value locked (TVL) is sturdy evidence of institutional investor preference, even as competitors such as Tron, Solana and BNB Chain generate higher network fees. While some market participants argue that Ethereum has failed to fully monetize its dominance in clever contract deposits, this result is largely intentional and a result of its rollup-based scalability strategy.

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The number of transactions on the Solana platform exceeds the combined number of transactions made by its top 10 competitors, highlighting the network’s dependence on intensive validation processes and a semi-centralized development structure, led by Solana Labs. According to Nansen’s data, Ethereum processed 54.4 million transactions in 30 days, while its Layer 2 Base network recorded more than 600 million transactions in the same period.

Ether’s two-month trade below $3,200 was particularly challenging for companies that took out debt or equity to build ETH reserves. For example, Bitmine Immersion (BMNR US) currently holds $13.2 billion worth of Ether, and its shares are trading at a 9% discount to the value of this asset, based on CoinGecko data.

It is unclear what catalyst could shift the dynamics in ETH’s favor, especially as competing networks provide average users with comparable DApps and functionality, often with less friction due to the scalability of the base layer. Ether’s path back to $4,000 and above depends largely on renewed demand for blockchain applications and a broader appetite for cryptocurrency risk amid continued uncertainty in the U.S. economy.