Ethereum is staging a quiet but determined comeback. After weeks of sideways grinding and relentless spot ETF outflows, the second-largest cryptocurrency is once again flirting with the psychologically important $3,000 level, trading at approximately $2,900 with daily gains of 1.3–2.7 %. Beneath the modest price action, however, a confluence of technical, on-chain, and fundamental catalysts is building what many analysts believe could be the spark for ETH’s next leg higher.
Whales Are Quietly Loading Up
Large investors are voting with their wallets. Immersion mining firm BitMine Immersion Technologies added 21,000 ETH (~$59 million) to its balance sheet in recent days, while an anonymous whale known as “1011short” opened a 15,000 ETH leveraged long position on Hyperliquid at an average entry of $2,945, representing roughly $44 million in notional exposure.
On-chain data reinforces the accumulation narrative: Ethereum’s stablecoin supply grew by $1.3 billion in the past 24 hours alone, a classic precursor to increased trading activity and upward price pressure.
Fusaka Hard Fork: The Upgrade Everyone Is Watching
The upcoming Fusaka upgrade, scheduled for December 3, 2025 (just eight days away), is emerging as the biggest near-term catalyst. Building on the earlier Pectra upgrade, Fusaka introduces:
- PeerDAS – increasing data blob capacity from 6 to 48 per block (an 8× improvement)
- Stricter gas limit rules to reduce network spam
- Multiple scalability and rollup-centric EIPs
Analysts expect these changes to dramatically lower Layer-2 transaction costs (already down 94 % in 2025) and pave the way for mainstream DeFi and tokenized real-world asset adoption. Institutional participation in DeFi protocols has already climbed to 48 % this year, with total tokenized assets crossing $5 billion.
Technical Setup: Coiled Spring or Continued Chop?
From a charting perspective, ETH is testing the upper boundary of a multi-week range between $2,600 and $3,000. Key levels to watch:
- Immediate resistance: $2,980–$3,020 (liquidity pool and 200-period EMA on 4H)
- Psychological barrier: $3,000
- Support cluster: $2,880–$2,900 (widely defended by bulls)
A decisive close above $3,020 on elevated volume would likely trigger a short squeeze and rapid move toward $3,400–$3,850, according to traders such as Michaël van de Poppe and platforms like CoinDCX.
ETF Flows Flip Positive After Brutal November
November has been punishing for Ethereum spot ETFs, with cumulative outflows reaching $1.79 billion. Yet the bleeding appears to be slowing: the past 24 hours recorded $96.67 million of net inflows, offering the first glimmer of institutional relief since early in the month.
Price Forecasts: From Conservative to Moonshot
Analyst targets for the coming weeks and months vary widely but lean bullish:
| Timeframe | Price Target | Upside from $2,900 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today–Nov 27 | $3,005 | +3.7 % | Bitget |
| End of November | $3,850–$3,900 | +33–35 % | CoinDCX, on-chain analysts |
| Christmas 2025 | $3,244–$4,000 | +12–38 % | CoinCodex, Standard Chartered |
| End of 2025 | $5,500–$7,500 | +90–160 % | InvestingHaven, bank forecasts |
| 2030 (long-term) | $10,000+ | +244 %+ | Multiple institutional reports |
The Bottom Line
Ethereum is at an inflection point. Extreme fear (Fear & Greed Index at 20), whale accumulation, an imminent scalability-focused hard fork, and improving ETF flows are aligning at the same moment ETH tests multi-month range resistance.
If $3,000 flips to support in the coming days, the path of least resistance points sharply higher. A failure to break out, however, could see a retest of the $2,600 low before the next attempt.
For now, the smart money appears to be betting on the breakout. Eight days until Fusaka, the countdown has begun.