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Following a disappointing performance in February, the Ethereum price has seen some semblance of relief over the past two weeks. With the steadying market condition, the “king of altcoins” has managed to hold its own around the psychological $2,000 level.

This, expectedly, has been enough to rouse hopes in silent investors on the Ether token’s future; however, a market analyst has revealed reasons to believe that Ethereum buyers might want to sit on their hands — at least in the meantime.

Multiple Indicators Align To Reflect High Market Stress

In a recent post on the social media platform X, on-chain analyst Boris highlighted data from three metrics, showing that the Ethereum market is starting to see a surge in pressure. According to the analyst, if the present conditions persist, a capitulation phase might be on the horizon for the second-largest cryptocurrency.

The market pundit started their analysis with the Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) metric, which measures the overall profit or loss of investors by comparing the current market value of ETH to the price at which coins last moved on-chain. Boris shared in his post that the NUPL currently sits on a negative level, suggesting that Ethereum’s investors may be holding through unrealized losses.

Ethereum may be approaching a major capitulation zone

Several key on-chain signals are starting to align:

• NUPL: Negative → Investors are holding unrealized losses
• Price: Below Realized Price (~$2.2K) → Market still under pressure
• Profit Days: The 1.34K-day profit… pic.twitter.com/rHNw1Pn0i8

— Boris. (@Fundingvest) March 12, 2026

Another major metric cited was the Realized Price metric, which represents the average price at which all coins in circulation were last moved on-chain. Boris pointed out in his tweet that the altcoin is currently trading beneath its realized price of $2,200. 

When the market falls below this level, it indicates that the average Ethereum investor is holding through losses. Hence, this on-chain signal translates as a level of pressure being felt by Ethereum’s investors, as the market price continues to fluctuate below the realized price. 

Source: @Fundingvest on X

Furthermore, Boris mentioned the Number of Days Spent at a Profit metric in his analysis, saying that the Ethereum network recently ended an impressive 1,340-day streak, during which the majority of circulating Ether tokens remained profitable. 

The analyst explained that this is often a signal that a market cycle has ended — a conjecture that is consistent with historical events and tends to appear close to the bottoms of bear markets.

Despite the present conditions, Boris warned that NUPL still has to move deeper towards the capitulation zone between –0.5 and –1 for a bottom to be formed. If the Ethereum price were to experience another sell-off round, the metric could enter the capitulation zone, where several investors might be forced to forfeit their positions — an event that would most likely be exploited by long-term traders (the diamond hands).

Ethereum Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of Ethereum stands at around about $2,092, reflecting an over 1% drop since the past day. 

The price of ETH on the daily timeframe | Source: ETHUSDT chart on TradingView

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView

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