• The price of Ethereum fell after failing to break $2,320 resistance due to regulator criticism and a hack that affected nearly the entire Web3 ecosystem.
• Ethereum’s market troubles have provided room for rivals such as Solana and Avalanche to advance market dominance.
• All is not doom and gloom as the ETH ecosystem embraced  the ERC-3643 Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) – with increased usability the price could recover to 2021 heights.

Today, the Ethereum community finds itself grappling with a notable downturn in the value of its native cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH). 

As market participants anxiously monitor the charts and trading platforms, the question echoing through online forums and financial news outlets is a resounding “Why is the Ethereum price down today?”

Ethereum Tanks Ahead Of The Weekend Market Effect

On December 16, the price of Ethereum fell after failing to break above the $2,320 resistance mark. 

The recent price drop can be ascribed to regulators’ harsh remarks, a hack that affected nearly the entire Web3 ecosystem, decreased activity in the Ethereum network, and criticism from an early Ethereum Foundation developer.

Today’s Ethereum (ETH) price is $2,247.86, with a 24-hour trading volume of $14,584,988,655.44. This indicates a -1.37% drop in the last 24 hours and a -5.10% drop in the previous 7 days.

The global crypto market cap is now $1.67 trillion, a -1.37% decrease from the last day and a 98.11% increase from a year ago. 

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Bitcoin (BTC) has a market cap of $827 billion as of today, signifying a 49.63% crypto market dominance. Meanwhile, the market cap of stablecoins is $131 billion, accounting for 7.86% of the total crypto market cap.

Before settling in the present range of $2,190 to $2,360, Ether experienced a 40% surge. Therefore, an accumulation period may be inferred in the absence of a distinct trajectory.

The price of Ether has been significantly affected by the excitement surrounding spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), particularly since November 9, when the $9 trillion global asset manager BlackRock announced its intention to introduce a spot Ether ETF.

On December 15, however, a regulatory development occurred when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a statement denying a petition submitted by the Coinbase exchange. 

“Now is the time for regulatory action,” according to SEC Chair Gery Gensler, who further asserted that “crypto securities markets” are governed by existing laws and regulations.

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Further disconcerting is the SEC’s most recent publication, which references “dramatic fraud, abuse, and noncompliance” in the cryptocurrency industry and emphasizes that “the investing public benefits from the registration and oversight of intermediaries.”

In response to the primary concern raised by Coinbase concerning “discretionary rulemaking,” Gensler stated that such measures are “vital to our ability to faithfully carry out Congress’s mandate.”