Ethereum crashed through $1,850 on Monday—down 5.6% in a single session. The ethereum price drop came as Vitalik Buterin ramped up selling through his Kanro entity, offloading another 3,500 ETH withdrawn from Aave over 48 hours.
That’s not accumulation.
The move broke ETH below the lower trendline of its bear pennant pattern, a technical setup that projects another leg down. Target: $1,475 by early March. The breakdown happened on rising volume, meaning traders sold with conviction as the structure crumbled.
Bear pennants resolve when price falls by the height of the prior downtrend. Apply that math to ETH’s chart and you get a target near the psychological $1,500 level within two weeks. Hold the pennant’s lower trendline as support and bulls have a chance. Lose it and the path clears to sub-$1,500 territory.
Meanwhile, the 20-day exponential moving average sits at $2,085—far above current price. ETH needs to reclaim that level to invalidate the bearish structure. Not happening yet.
**What’s Driving the Ethereum Price Drop?**
Vitalik Buterin announced on January 30 he’d sell 16,384 ETH via Kanro to fund ecosystem work, open-source software, and long-term initiatives during what he called an Ethereum Foundation “mild austerity” phase. Since early February, about 9,000 ETH hit the market in batches.
Onchain tracker Arkham Intelligence flagged the activity. Lookonchain noted Monday that Buterin “is selling ETH faster again” after the latest 3,500 ETH Aave withdrawal. Roughly 7,350 ETH remain in the pipeline—a supply overhang traders can’t ignore.
The ethereum price drop tracks perfectly with the selling. ETH fell 18.55% in February as Buterin distributed tokens. Correlation isn’t always causation, but when a co-founder dumps millions in real time, markets notice.
Founder-linked selling carries weight in crypto. History proves it.
May 2021: Ethereum Foundation transferred 35,000 ETH—about $125 million at the time. ETH dropped 50% within weeks. November 11, 2021: Another 20,000 ETH moved to Kraken, totaling $95 million. ETH peaked near $4,700 shortly after, then entered its next major decline.
Pattern recognition matters. When foundation wallets move large amounts, bearish sentiment amplifies. Traders see supply hitting exchanges and position accordingly. The current ethereum price drop follows that script.
Broader market conditions didn’t help. Monday’s selloff came during de-risking tied to tariff nervousness—risk assets like ETH and tech stocks both took hits. When macro uncertainty rises, speculative assets get sold first. Ethereum qualifies as speculative despite its smart contract dominance.
The technical setup compounds the fundamental pressure. Bear pennants form when price consolidates after a sharp decline, creating a small symmetrical triangle. The pattern suggests the prior trend resumes. In this case, the prior trend pointed down.
Breaking below the pennant’s lower boundary on volume confirms the pattern. That happened Monday. Now the measured move projects to $1,475—just below the round-number support at $1,500 that often attracts buy orders.
$1,500 matters psychologically. Round numbers create natural support and resistance because traders cluster orders there. Break through and the next support zone might not appear until much lower. Historical data shows Ethereum found buyers around $1,400-$1,500 during previous corrections, but those levels held when selling pressure wasn’t founder-driven.
This time the ethereum price drop carries extra weight because supply is known and ongoing. Buterin’s remaining 7,350 ETH represents continued overhang. Markets hate uncertainty about future supply. When the timeline and amount are visible onchain, traders front-run the selling.
Some context: 16,384 ETH isn’t massive compared to daily Ethereum trading volume, which typically ranges from 200,000 to 500,000 ETH across major exchanges. But the psychological impact exceeds the raw numbers. A co-founder selling during a bear pennant breakdown sends a signal, warranted or not.
Bulls need a reclaim of the pennant structure fast. That means pushing back above the broken trendline—likely around $1,920-$1,950 based on the pattern’s geometry—and then challenging the 20-day EMA at $2,085. Without that reversal, the path of least resistance points down.
The question is whether the ethereum price drop extends to the full $1,475 target or if buyers step in at $1,500. Historical support levels don’t guarantee future support, especially when technical patterns and known selling align.
Every past bear market saw similar setups: a combination of weakening technicals, visible supply pressure, and macro headwinds. The 2018 bear saw ETH fall from $1,400 to $80—a 94% decline. The 2022 cycle took ETH from $4,800 to $880—an 82% drop. Current price action suggests ETH is testing whether $1,850 acts as a temporary floor or just another step down.
For now, the structure says down. The selling says down. The technicals say $1,475 by early March.
All eyes on $1,500.
