Ethereum has entered the "fear zone," according to Santiment.
Experts see increased chances of a reversal in the asset.
At the same time, the market is debating Ethereum's future following the price collapse.
The analytics platform Santiment has reported a sharp decline in sentiment around Ethereum. In early June 2026, the ratio of positive to negative mentions of the asset on social media fell to one of the lowest levels of the year. Experts believe this could be a counter-trend signal and increases the likelihood of a price recovery for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Santiment noted that Ethereum has entered an extreme "fear zone" after several months of underperforming Bitcoin and other major crypto assets.
Investor sentiment was further pressured by discussions surrounding the Ethereum Foundation, criticism of its leadership, and controversies surrounding certain statements by co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
"The crowd has already written off Ethereum, significantly increasing the likelihood of a rebound," Santiment stated.
According to the company, bearish narratives currently dominate social media. At the same time, historically, periods of maximum FUD have often served as a precursor to asset price recovery.
$MVRV signals undervaluation
An additional argument in favor of a potential reversal was the MVRV Z-Score, which measures the difference between the market value of an asset and the average cost of coins held by holders.
The indicator is currently near -0.7, which corresponds to the undervalued zone.
Analysts noted that this level has only been observed three times in Ethereum's history:
at the end of 2018;
in mid-2022;
in June 2026.
Each of these previous instances preceded a major market recovery, although the indicator could remain negative for several months before the start of a new uptrend.
Analysts debate the market bottom
Trader Ash Crypto noted the similarities between the current market structure and June 2022.
"In June 2022, Ethereum broke through all support levels and fell to $880. Everyone abandoned it. As it turned out, this was the exact bottom of the entire bear market," he noted.
According to him, the situation shares several similarities with the current cycle. Since reaching an all-time high of $4,956 in August 2025, Ethereum has lost approximately 68% of its value and is trading near $1,593.
The analyst identified $1,500 as a key support level:
Maintaining this level could repeat the 2022 scenario;
Closing the week below $1,500 would pave the way for the next major support near $1,000.At the same time, analyst Ardi warned that historically, Ethereum's final bottom has only formed after the weekly relative strength index (RSI) has fallen below 30.
According to him, in previous bearish cycles, this was accompanied by additional large declines:
In 2018, Ethereum lost another 63% after entering oversold territory;
In 2022, the decline after this signal was approximately 65%.
The RSI has not yet reached such levels, leaving the risk of further declines.
"Ethereum usually forms a bottom when no one wants to own it anymore," Ardi emphasized.
The market remains divided
Current valuations contrast sharply with the positions of other market participants.
In early June, Bankless co-founder David Hoffman announced his complete exit from Ethereum, stating that the asset's potential had already been largely realized and that further development of the ecosystem was unlikely to have a significant impact on its value.
Furthermore, after Ethereum's decline below $2,000, analysts at Santiment and CryptoQuant warned of a number of bearish signals, including rising exchange earnings and declining on-chain activity.
Meanwhile, Standard Chartered continues to hold the opposite view. The bank previously compared Ethereum's current state to Amazon shares after the 2001 dot-com crash and declared it fundamentally undervalued.
The bank's analysts also suggested that after Bitcoin's crash in early June, Ethereum has an opportunity to recover, and its price could rise to $2,700 by the end of the year.
The debate is further exacerbated by statements from renowned Bitcoin maximalist PlanB, who recently called Ethereum "effectively dead" due to its multi-year lag behind Bitcoin and weak performance in the current cycle.