• Ethereum (ETH) slides over 7% over the past 24 hours as bears target sub $250 support levels in the near term.
• A double top formation on the 4-hour charts offers a strong bearish signal. Could ETH dip to $230?

The cryptocurrency market has been on a wild ride in the past week as movements in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price (above and below) the $10,000 USD mark set a volatile course for the altcoins as well. The largest altcoin is on a dip in value after an impressive first six weeks through the year.

Since hitting a yearly high last week, ETH/USD has been on a sharp downward trend in the past 48 hours, plummeting 13.4% in that period from intraday highs of $287.50 on Wednesday. The second-largest cryptocurrency currently trades at $253.99 USD, balancing lightly on the key support level, whereby a breach below this level could be catastrophic for the bulls in the market.

Looking at the 4-hour candle chart, a very bearish signal is forming on the charts following the price drop across the market. A death cross has formed on the moving average (MA) signaling a further price push lower with bears on a target of support/resistance level at $230 USD, if price breaches the support area at $238 USD.

Notwithstanding, the chart is forming a double top formation, which is an extremely bearish indicator if the pattern is completed. Having bounced off the neckline at $245 USD, bulls have fought off the bear interest but all indicators point to the market experiencing a bear reversal to lower support levels at $240, $238 and $230 if the price breaks below $250 USD.

While the market is in a general decline, ETH is one of the highest losing coins from their intraday highs on Wednesday as the market continues bleeding profits dry. As the field grapples with the recent smart contract breaches on bZx exchange that allowed “smart thieves” to make away with close to $600k in profits, confidence in DeFi products may be dipping.

As one of the fastest-growing products on the blockchain, total confidence has to be regained in order for market sentiments to turn bullish in the near term.