Ethereum continues to face tough times in this bull cycle, underperforming other alternative coins despite its position as the second-largest cryptocurrency.

While the broader crypto market is struggling currently, ether (ETH) appears to be getting hit the hardest compared to its rivals, as seen in the assets on-chain metrics. The latest data analyzed by the market intelligence platform CryptoQuant has found that the profit levels for ETH holders have fallen to levels seen during the last bear cycle.

Whales Profit Ratio Hits Bear Market Levels

According to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, the unrealized profit ratio for ETH whales—traders holding at least 100,000 ETH—has fallen to bear market levels. This cohort of investors last saw this level of unrealized profits in January 2023 and the months before then.

Darkfost said that most whales positions have returned to the same profit levels recorded during the previous bear market. This is despite the fact that ETH is currently almost twice its value from the last bear season.

While the unrealized profit ratio for traders holding at least 100,000 ETH just fell to former bear market levels, the metric for the cohort holding between 1,000 and 10,000 ETH has reverted to negative unrealized profit ratio levels.

Additionally, the ETH/BTC ratio continues to decline, with the metric facing a combination of intense fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) and complex price action. Data from TradingView reveals the ETH/BTC price at a five-year low of 0.0246, following a state of constant decline since 2022.

Tough Time for ETH Holders

This period of difficulty for Ethereum can also be seen in ETH price, which has plummeted 15% monthly and 10% weekly. After a brief surge on Sunday due to news of the United States creating a strategic crypto reserve, including ETH, the cryptocurrency fell more than 20% from $2,541 to $2,019 within 24 hours. At the time of writing, ETH had recovered slightly and was changing hands at $2,232, depicting a 6% uptick daily.

At ethers current price, it is almost 50% below its December 2024 peak above $4,000. Market analysts have predicted that ETH could fall to late 2022 lows of $1,200 after identifying a double-top formation from the assets monthly time frame chart. This is likely to happen if ETH breaks below its $2,100 support level.