Ethereum Activity Declines as Focus Shifts to Bitcoin and Macroeconomic Trends

As macroeconomic trends take center stage, much of the cryptocurrency sector has been left in the shadows — a marginal player amid the worsening crisis, Ethereum is no exception. The leading smart contract platform has seen a significant decline in trading volume since surging in February.

Ethereum Trading Volume Drops

According to analysts, the United States and much of the world is now in a recession. Bad unemployment numbers have further hurt consumer confidence in what the future holds. As you might expect, the cryptocurrency market has seen declining interest as the public focuses on more pressing concerns. This is perhaps most clear when we look at the trading activity associated with Ethereum, which has seen a significant decline. As Skew (@skewdotcom) reported, Ethereum’s trading volume has dropped as traders are focusing more on macroeconomic trends. Those that are still looking at the cryptocurrency market, are mainly focused on Bitcoin.

The rise in ether trading activity seen in February stopped recently as traders refocused on bitcoin and global markets pic.twitter.com/gA78lO7jLr

— skew (@skewdotcom) April 2, 2020

Still, Ethereum’s price movement continues to mirror Bitcoin (BTC) as one might expect. This was also the case when Bitcoin dropped some 50% on March 12. In times like these, it seems safe to say that macroeconomic indicators are taking center stage, and the rest of the cryptocurrency market looks to how Bitcoin is responding.

Whales Sell-Off Holdings

Two interesting developments have taken place in the past few weeks amid this decline in volume. Firstly, as BeInCrypto reported on March 12, many Ethereum holders have sold off their holdings. Although they were accumulating in February, this turned out to be a short-term gamble. Secondly, Ethereum’s main selling point, decentralized finance (Defi), has seen a marked decline amid the pandemic and economic crisis. The value locked up to DeFi-related contracts has dropped by more than 50% in the past few weeks, a stunning number when considering it topped $1B at the beginning of March. As of now, it is unclear how the cryptocurrency market will do in the short-term. According to technicals, Ethereum is at historic reversal areas. Although that may be promising, we should not ignore the macroeconomic indicators which are dire. Therefore, historic trends may not hold up if the world’s economic situation worsens.