Ethereum Continues To Struggle Beneath $3,500 — What Lies Ahead In Q1 2025?

It’s been an interesting past 24 hours for the cryptocurrency industry and market, with the United States president-elect Donald Trump launching his own meme coin “Official Trump” (TRUMP). The Solana-based meme coin’s value has skyrocketed by more than 500% in the past 24 hours, with a market cap of over $5 billion.

Ethereum (ETH) price, on the other hand, has struggled to keep up pace with the market, failing to capitalize on its newly found bullish momentum. What can investors expect from the “king of altcoins” in the first few months of 2025?

Overview Of ETH’s Historical Q1 Performance 

In a recent post on the social media platform X, prominent crypto analyst Ali Martinez shared an insight into how the price of Ethereum could perform in the first quarter of 2025. Based on historical price data, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap could witness a resurgence before the end of March 2025.

Historically, the Ethereum price has almost always put up its strongest performance in the first three months of the year. Since 2017, the average return of the altcoin in the first quarter stands at around 82.69%; this is followed by the second quarter’s average return of nearly 67%.

According to price action data, the only two times Ethereum failed to register a positive performance were at the beginning of the 2018 and 2022 bear seasons. The price of ETH was down by almost 50% and 11% by the end of March in 2018 and 2022, respectively.

Meanwhile, the altcoin recorded its best Q1 performance in 2017, skyrocketing by more than 500% in the first three months. This is followed by the 160% surge experienced at the beginning of 2021 — the final year in the four-year crypto cycle.

If history is anything to go by, the Ethereum price might be gearing up for an upswing before the end of March 2025. Besides its history of Q1 rallies, ETH might be in the final year of its cycle, which has often coincided with the strongest performances for altcoin.

Ethereum Price Overview

As of this writing, the price of Ethereum sits just beneath $3,300, reflecting an almost 6% decline in the past 24 hours. This single-day action has pushed the altcoin into a loss on the daily timeframe, with the ETH price down by more than 1%.

If the ETH price is going to continue its pattern of robust Q1 performances, a sustained close above the psychological $3,500 level might be the first step. Since mid-December, the cryptocurrency has mostly been consolidating beneath the $3,500 region.