Ethereum Price Lags as Stablecoin Activity Surges 200%

Key Insights:

• Ethereum price is down about 30%, but stablecoin transactions increased 200% in 18 months.
• Analysts said similar activity-price divergence appeared in 2019 before ETH price rallied.
• Key ETH levels to watch include support near $1,991 and resistance around $2,396.

Ethereum price has been struggling this cycle, despite an increase in on-chain stablecoin activity. A Glassnode chart shared by Michael van de Poppe shows stablecoin transactions on Ethereum up about 200% in 18 months.

Over the same period, Ethereum price is down about 30%, reigniting debate over when use is met with valuation.

Ethereum Price Faces a Narrative Gap as Stablecoin Flows Keep Climbing

The data snapshot showed a familiar pattern from previous cycles. Stablecoin throughput can grow ahead of spot markets, especially in early growth phases.

Van de Poppe argued that this happened in 2019, when activity strengthened and price followed later.

ETH: Stablecoins Transactions (Absolute) | Source: Glassnode

The chart overlays data of stablecoin transaction activity alongside the Ethereum price history. It shows transaction volumes increasing sharply into late 2025, yet the price is still below earlier cycle peaks.

For traders, that split sets up a “fundamentals first” story, but it doesn’t eliminate timing risk. Higher stablecoin activity can indicate increased settlement demand and more economic activity.

This may reflect rotation between stablecoins during volatility. The shift occurs without immediate spot inflows.

That is why the market still keeps an eye out for the price structure for confirmation, not just on-chain growth.

Vitalik Maps The Ethereum-AI Layer for Economic Interaction

Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin said Ethereum can soon help AIs to interact economically, not just socially or computationally.

He described Ethereum as an economic layer for AI-related transactions such as bot-to-bot hiring and automated payments. He also identified on-chain security deposits and dispute resolution as practical building blocks.

Buterin relates this direction to decentralized authorization of API calls under an ERC-8004 direction. He described tooling that can make agent interactions more trustless and sometimes private. In his opinion, the aim is a viable decentralized AI infrastructure, not hype-laden acceleration.

He also stated some near-term mechanisms that decrease identity linkage between calls. One path is local LLM tooling coupled with zero-knowledge payments to make API requests.

He added that privacy and verification work can be carried out through cryptographic proofs, TEEs, and other methods of assurance.

Security Trade-Offs Complicate Open AI and Open Crypto Design

However, Buterin emphasized that crypto security is dependent on open source. Yet open AI models and training data can result in more malicious machine learning attacks. That mismatch creates friction for teams that want both transparency and robustness.

He argued that the Ethereum and AGI worlds are philosophically aligned when they focus on a positive direction.

In his view, the ecosystem should not remain undifferentiated in speed and should aim for safer, empowering outcomes. He says the most useful overlap is of careful AI and inside crypto and of AI and cryptography.

Buterin also suggests that LLMs can reduce long-standing coordination limits. He notes that decision markets and governance tools often fail due to attention constraints. If LLMs can scale judgment, they could make older crypto governance ideas more workable.

Chart Levels Still Matter for Ethereum Price

In the meantime, the Ethereum price action is still the gatekeeper for traders waiting for a change in trend. A TradingView view posted by “Man of Bitcoin” has ETH at about $2,118 at the time of writing. The same chart highlighted a key level around $1,991 to maintain upside momentum.

ETHUSD Hourly Chart | Source: Man of Bitcoin, X

The setup also points to $2,396 as a price ceiling to reclaim in order to mitigate downside risk. The analyst warns that as long as Ethereum price remains below $2,396, another low is still possible.

The chart highlights Fibonacci levels near $1,820.93 (0.786). It also marks $1,600.83 (0.887) as a possible area of interest.

The structure drawn on the chart indicates a rebound attempt in a wider downtrend channel. It also notes “only three waves up” from the lows so far, suggesting the recovery may be incomplete. For now, Ethereum price remains between the $1,991 pivot and $2,396 resistance point.

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