A debate over Ethereum's investment appeal is heating up again in the cryptocurrency market. Some analysts warn of further losses due to structural weakening, while parts of the market point to fundamentals and technical indicators to argue a rebound is possible.

BeInCrypto, a blockchain media outlet, reported on April 20 that crypto analyst Ansem said Ethereum was in a more unfavorable position than in 2023. He argued that Ethereum's core investment thesis has weakened over several years and that it has entered a structurally tougher phase in 2026.

Ansem said retail money in this cycle has moved to Solana and that Hyperliquid has taken the lead in the perpetual futures market. He added that rollups, long seen as central to Ethereum's scaling strategy, have not spread as much as expected, and cited Vitalik Buterin stepping back from a general-purpose rollup concept as another bearish factor.

He also pointed to DeFi security issues as a weakness for Ethereum. Ansem argued that the KelpDAO (rsETH) exploit and the Aave-related situation around it damaged security and institutional trust, which he described as core values for Ethereum. "Ethereum's investment thesis has been steadily weakening for years," he said. "Ethereum is in a worse position than in the past."

He also maintained a bearish view on price. Ansem said Ethereum has continued a downtrend without breaking through key resistance levels for an extended period, and did not rule out further losses to around $1,300, the 2025 low, or even to the 2022 bear-market low.

A rebuttal to the downside outlook came immediately. Investors Ryan Berckmans and Leo Lanza disputed Ansem's claims, saying Ethereum's fundamentals remained solid. Some market participants said the SOL/ETH pair falling 56 percent in this cycle showed that the case for Solana's dominance was also an oversimplified interpretation.

Ansem said he was not favorable only to specific assets such as Solana. "Even though Solana rose sharply, the SOL/ETH ratio fell," he said. "Over the past year I have not offered a view biased toward a specific coin."

Interpretations of Ethereum now vary widely in the market. Some analyses say network activity remains solid, and argue that technical indicators such as the rainbow chart and the moving average convergence divergence index (MACD) are showing rebound signals. Others worry that delays in scaling strategy and DeFi security issues could become long-term weaknesses.

Ultimately, there are 2 key questions. One is whether rollup scaling and security issues will continue to damage Ethereum's investment thesis, or whether network growth and technical rebound signals will lead to a price recovery. With macroeconomic and geopolitical variables also in play, whether Ethereum extends a further downtrend or succeeds in turning to a rebound is expected to remain a key market focus for the time being.