Ethereum Stalls Below $3K As Vitalik Faces Investor Backlash Over Decentralized Media Focus

Ethereum price is stuck slightly below the $3,000 level, within a choppy range between roughly $2,400 and $3,600, which has capped the price of Ethereum.

ETH is down 2.3% in the last 24 hours to trade at $2,926 as of 04:38 a.m. EST, as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin faces investor backlash over his focus on decentralized media.

The Ethereum token drop is in tandem with the broader crypto space, which shed 1.1% in the last 24 hours to a market capitalization of around $3.01 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

However, the average crypto Relative Strength Index (RSI) has recovered from the previous day’s level to 44.55, which shows that buying may be picking up in the market.

Vitalik Claps Back At Investor Backlash

Buterin had earlier said that he plans to return to decentralized social platforms in 2026, reiterating that the next stage of online communication must move away from engagement-driven models and speculative incentives that have dominated both Web2 and crypto-native social experiments.

In an X post, the Ethereum co-founder said that 2026 should be the turning point for digital autonomy, with the claim that freedom requires the world to make active choices towards “computing self-sovereignty,” beyond the blockchain.

He said existing platforms are optimized for short-term engagement rather than users’ long-term interests. He warned that many crypto social projects have repeated the same mistakes by financializing attention instead of improving information quality.

“If we want a better society, we need better mass communication tools,” Buterin wrote.

However, one community member and the pseudonymous founder of DeFi platform SharedStake, ChimeraDefi.eth, suggested that the community should “bully him again” for pushing them to abandon services everyone uses for “esoteric tools.”

“He’s moving away from tools everyone uses to esoteric tools no one uses, so we’ll have to use Fileverse to read his work? Drastically lowering distribution? Why, bro?” they asked.

The developer is also mocking Buterin’s switch from Telegram to Signal, accusing Ethereum leadership of poor communication compared with other platforms.

Buterin responded by warning the community against using tools because of their popularity and not their principles. 

“This is the mentality that created Liberty Reserve, which ultimately failed,” he pushed back, adding that resisting the need to chase mass-market tools that could be “slurping up all your data” is the “mentality that created Bitcoin.” 

Can Ethereum Price Recover?

The Ethereum price is currently consolidating below the $3,070–$3,100 resistance zone, which closely aligns with the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA).

While ETH recently bounced from the $2,750 demand area, the move now appears corrective, which suggests that buyers are defending support but not yet in control of the overall trend.

Despite the rebound, the price of ETH has not been able to decisively reclaim the 50-day SMA, which is now acting as dynamic resistance. This keeps the short-term structure fragile.

Meanwhile, the 200-day SMA near $3,650 remains as a long-term resistance level.

Ethereum’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently around 38, which is below the neutral 50 level. This indicates weak momentum, with no clear bullish divergence present.

ETH appears to be forming a range-bound consolidation following a sharp decline. Lower highs remain intact, and upside attempts continue to be capped by Fibonacci resistance between the 0.382 and 0.5 retracement levels, which support the idea that sellers are active on rallies.

The 1-day ETH/USD chart suggests that Ethereum is under intense selling pressure. Failure to hold current levels could result in renewed pressure toward the $2,850 support zone, followed by the broader $2,750 demand area, which has already been tested multiple times. Repeated tests of this zone may weaken its effectiveness over time.

 However, an attempt at another move toward the $3,230–$3,450 resistance zone is possible. A strong daily close above this zone would be required to shift momentum and open the door for a potential retest of the 200-day SMA near $3,650.