Ethereum is still pinned near $1,750, with renewed Middle East tensions dampening risk appetite and repeated selling around $1,800 keeping any rebound from gaining traction.
Data cited by crypto.news showed ETH trading around $1,756 on Wednesday after several failed attempts to hold above $1,800 over the past week. The latest rejection came after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian military targets. The report said Iran had fired on civilian shipping near the Strait of Hormuz, pushing investors toward traditional safe-haven assets and curbing demand for cryptocurrencies. The conflict also disrupted diplomatic efforts that had already been paused during Iran’s official mourning period for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. has added another layer of caution. The Securities and Exchange Commission updated its 2026 rulemaking agenda on July 7 and July 8, covering three crypto-related proposals tied to safe harbors, broker-dealer capital requirements, and alternative trading systems. The framework offers more clarity than an enforcement-only approach, but large investors are still waiting to see what happens with the CLARITY Act before putting more capital into digital assets.
$1,750 Support and $1,800 Resistance Keep ETH in Range
Ethereum’s short-term structure remains compressed inside a clear trading band. On the 4-hour chart, price has repeatedly failed near $1,850, while buyers have continued to defend the $1,750 area. The latest pullback formed after another rounded recovery pattern, but the move stalled below horizontal resistance and left the range intact across several sessions.
Analyst Daan Crypto Trades said ETH had been rejected at $1,800 for the fourth time in the last week, while the $1,750 region remained the key level below. In his view, a decisive move beyond either boundary would likely set the next directional trend.
Daily indicators are mixed. ETH has reclaimed a descending trendline that had capped price since May, and it continues to trade above the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement near $1,703. Chaikin Money Flow stands at 0.08, pointing to continued capital inflows, and the Aroon Up reading remains in control. Momentum has cooled, though. The 4-hour MACD histogram has turned negative, and RSI has eased back toward the neutral 50 area after briefly approaching overbought levels earlier this month.
Liquidation Clusters Build Between $1,770 and $1,850
Derivatives positioning points to volatility still building rather than a clean breakout already underway. CoinGlass liquidation data shows a major short liquidation cluster between roughly $1,770 and $1,780, with larger concentrations stretching into the $1,800 to $1,850 zone. If ETH pushes through those levels and holds, cascading liquidations could add speed to the upside.
Risk is stacked on the downside as well. Long liquidation pools have formed around $1,720 and near the psychological $1,700 level. That leaves both sides exposed if price breaks out of the current range.
Beyond the chart, Ethereum is still dealing with internal structural pressure. Activity has continued to migrate toward layer-2 networks and rival layer-1 chains, reducing usage on Ethereum’s mainnet. Lower fees have weakened ETH’s burn rate, and DeFi activity remains below the highs of the previous cycle. Even Vitalik Buterin’s recently released Lean Ethereum roadmap, which lays out scalability, privacy, and quantum-resistance upgrades through 2029, has not led to a clear market reaction so far.
A Drop Below $1,750 Could Reopen the Path to $1,700
The bullish case depends on Ethereum holding its current support band. Analyst Ted Pillows said ETH still holding above $1,750 leaves room for a relief rally, with his chart placing the next upside objective near $2,000.
If price closes below $1,750, that setup would weaken. ETH could then revisit the $1,720 liquidity pocket before opening the way toward $1,700 and the nearby 200-day moving average around $1,694. More geopolitical escalation, higher oil prices, delays in U.S. crypto legislation, or another wave of risk-off selling across global markets could keep pressure on the asset and delay any attempt to reclaim the $1,800 to $1,850 resistance zone.