Social media sentiment around Ethereum is weakening, but that trend could instead be a sign of a medium- to long-term rise, an analysis said.

On Jan. 11, blockchain outlet Cryptopolitan cited on-chain data analytics firm Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan as saying on YouTube that Ethereum has already undergone a significant correction. He said this differs from the claim that it can no longer fall. He added that it resembles a pattern seen just before large rallies in the past.

Quinlivan said investor pessimism has reached levels historically associated with strong upward momentum, and that macro cryptocurrency market data is also stabilising. He said social sentiment tends to move in the opposite direction and stressed that similar situations in the past led to bullish rallies in Ethereum and major cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum fell to $1,472, its low for 2025, in April 2025. It later regained $4,878, its record high from 2021, in August that year, when investor interest had largely cooled.

He said the price surged at a time when many traders were turning away from Ethereum, and pointed to the current situation as similar. Still, Ethereum is trading around $3,089, down about 36 percent from its high after heavy selling in October.

He said it cannot be concluded that the current period is immediately a phase of large gains, but that Ethereum has regained the status many had expected. He said Ethereum is again being recognised as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation.

Anthony Basilie, CEO of Coinbase Asset Management, also positively assessed Ethereum's recent recovery of its proper position in the market. He said there is growing consensus among investors about building portfolios that start with bitcoin and add Ethereum.

Market participants are still betting on Ethereum's upside over the medium to long term. Quinlivan forecast that the Ethereum network could grow rapidly over the next few months, led by rising staking demand.

On prediction platform Kalshi, traders put the probability that Ethereum will exceed $4,250 in 2026 at 59 percent and the chance it will rise above $4,500 at 49 percent. On Polymarket, more than 40 percent of traders expected Ethereum to reach $5,000 in 2026, while 22 percent bet it would break $6,000. Some participants see $7,500, $8,000 and even above $10,000 as possible scenarios.

The Ethereum Foundation also said in its year-end report that the Ethereum network strengthened its role as a secure backbone of digital civilisation and laid the groundwork for 2026.

Broader investor sentiment in the cryptocurrency market remains subdued. The fear and greed index has moved between "fear" and "extreme fear" since early November, and most recently recorded 29.

Investors still show a preference for bitcoin over other cryptocurrencies. The altcoin season index is 34, indicating a continuation of bitcoin-led market conditions. Ju Young Ki, CEO of CryptoQuant, warned that bitcoin could remain in a consolidation phase until the first quarter of 2026, and some analysts said funds are moving into traditional assets such as gold and silver.

Even so, an analysis that market pessimism around Ethereum could instead be a signal of a medium- to long-term rebound is drawing investor attention.