Ether Price at $1,600 Again: What Changed in Four Years?

Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency, is a key disappointment of the current cycle in crypto. While its price dropped below 0.019 BTC, stablecoin activity is almost the only metric that is surging day by day. All major DeFi indicators also look bearish in the long term.

Ether (ETH) price drops to 2021 levels

As Ether’s price is back to $1,600, it reached levels it first discovered amid its massive 2021 price rally. Meanwhile, the Ethereum-based stablecoin supply surged by 5.6x in the last four years, DefiLlama crypto data tracker unveiled in an X post.

In Jan 2021, total stablecoin supply on ETH was $22B. Today, it’s $123B. pic.twitter.com/JAly9eCIdl

— DefiLlama.com (@DefiLlama) April 11, 2025

In January 2021, when the ETH price was close to what we see now, stablecoins on Ethereum (ETH) totaled $22 billion. Now this metric is sitting at $123 billion in equivalent. This is the only Ethereum (ETH) network metric that spells optimism in Q2, 2025.

The aggregated amount of USD-denominated total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols was almost the same. The net DeFi TVL hit $85 billion in April 2021, while it dropped to $89 billion right now.

The net DEX trading volume reached $5.7 billion in April 2021, while today it is sitting at $7.6 billion. To provide context, this indicator peaked at almost $50 billion last January.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) price during April 2021 stayed in the $50,000-$60,000 corridor, which is 24-36% lower compared to today’s prices.

Crypto developer activity at lowest since 2018

The crisis in the cryptocurrency segment is reflected in yet another major metric, i.e., developer activity. As crypto analyst Miles Deutscher pointed out on X, this indicator plunged to lows unseen since the 2018 Crypto Winter.

Crypto developer activity is the lowest it’s been since 2018.

This is probably the saddest chart in crypto, and also the one which most accurately depicts the current state of the industry.

Even in the 2022 bear market, developers kept building.

But what are the reasons for… pic.twitter.com/mGc6X3Fmxg

— Miles Deutscher (@milesdeutscher) April 10, 2025

Deutscher attributed the alarming drop to AI stealing developers from crypto, dropping VC funding and the common disappointment in cryptocurrency tech that failed to deliver its promises.

At the same time, projects at the intersection between blockchain and AI as well as RWA- and stablecoin-centric developments still remain relevant for top-notch devs.

Today, on April 12, 2025, the net cryptocurrency capitalization added 0.3%. Bitcoin’s (BTC) price is up by 1.9%, struggling to stay above $83,600.

Source