Ethereum showed signs of recovery this December 18, 2025, as it neared the $3,000 mark once again. This bullish move was driven by the release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data in the United States, which came in lower than expected. The positive reaction from stock markets provided the necessary momentum for the digital asset to attempt to regain lost ground.
However, the optimistic sentiment is overshadowed by the massive Ether ETF outflows recorded during the current week. According to recent data from Farside Investors, these financial instruments lost approximately 533 million dollars in net negative flows recently. This trend suggests that institutional investor interest could be fading in the face of ongoing economic uncertainty.
The decline in institutional demand coincides with a 13% drop in open interest for the cryptocurrency’s futures contracts. In this way, the confidence of traders using leveraged positions has decreased significantly over the past seven active days. Market volatility continues to test the strength of the asset’s key support levels across major exchanges.
Can the Ethereum network regain its operational dynamism in the face of growing competition from other layers?
Network activity has also shown signs of cooling, with a drop in fees generated by decentralized applications (DApps) on-chain. On the other hand, the volume of ETH locked in the staking system also suffered a slight setback over the last month. The decrease in mainnet usage reflects a migration toward faster and cheaper second-layer scalability solutions.
Likewise, uncertainty in the technology sector, particularly surrounding artificial intelligence, has affected the valuation of most risk assets. Therefore, liquidations of long positions reached alarming figures of 165 million dollars during last Wednesday’s trading session. Investors are now maintaining a cautious stance while waiting for clearer signals regarding future monetary policy.
Are the current institutional capital flows an indicator of a prolonged bearish market for Ethereum?
The discount in the monthly futures market, which sits near 3%, points to weak demand from buyers today. Under neutral market conditions, this indicator usually ranges between 5% and 10% to account for various capital costs. The lack of a solid premium suggests that market participants do not expect an immediate or strong recovery soon.
Thus, Ethereum’s future outlook will largely depend on its ability to attract positive investment flows once again. As long as financial companies continue to withdraw capital from exchange-traded funds, the price ceiling for the asset could remain strictly limited. Consolidating above $3,000 will be essential to restore technical confidence in the short term for investors.
