Ethereum's Low Social Sentiment: Historical Pattern Before Bull Run?

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Social Sentiment Mirrors Previous Bull Run Patterns

Ethereum’s current social media sentiment has dropped to levels similar to those seen before its 2025 price rally, according to analysis from Santiment. That rally eventually pushed ETH back to its 2021 all-time highs, which is interesting to consider given where we are now.

Santiment analyst Brian Quinlivan mentioned in a recent YouTube video that Ethereum sentiment is “way down” right now. He suggested this might actually argue against further significant price declines. “This is kind of reminiscent of what we saw before Ethereum went on its major run last year,” Quinlivan said.

Looking back at the data, Ether surged to $4,878 on August 23, 2025, marking a gain of almost 70% over four months. This followed a yearly low of $1,472 on April 9 of that same year. The timing is worth noting—the price took off just as people were starting to write off Ethereum, according to Quinlivan’s observations.

Current Market Position and Sentiment

Ether has since dropped 36% from that all-time high, trading around $3,089 at publication time. This decline followed a $19 billion crypto market liquidation event on October 10, which triggered broader market weakness.

But here’s where things differ from early 2025. Quinlivan doesn’t see the same level of doubt about Ethereum’s upside potential now. “I wouldn’t say that is happening now,” he explained. “Ethereum is kind of back to being an expected number two market cap for a lot of people.”

He described Ethereum’s position as “appropriately ranked once again.” This view aligns with comments from a leading compliance platform’s asset management president, who told media in November 2025 that investors generally see Bitcoin as the first portfolio choice, with Ethereum following as the clear second.

Network Growth and Broader Market Context

Despite price declines, Quinlivan remains bullish on Ethereum’s network growth, describing it as “absolutely going bonkers.” He attributes this to growing interest in staking, which has become a hot topic on social media recently.

This comes as broader crypto market sentiment continues to hover at low levels. The market has been moving between “Fear” and “Extreme Fear” territory since early November, with the Fear & Greed Index posting a “Fear” score of 29 on Sunday.

Market participants appear to be in risk-off mode, favoring Bitcoin over other assets. The Altcoin Season Index currently shows a “Bitcoin Season” score of 34 out of 100. This index shifts between “Bitcoin Season” and “Altcoin Season” based on how the top 100 altcoins perform relative to Bitcoin over 90-day periods.

What’s interesting is how sentiment patterns sometimes repeat. The current low social sentiment around Ethereum mirrors what happened before last year’s rally, but the context is different. Ethereum now has a more established position as the clear number two cryptocurrency, which might change how these sentiment signals should be interpreted.

Network activity remains strong despite price weakness, and staking continues to attract attention. But the broader market remains cautious, with fear dominating sentiment across the crypto space. It’s a complex picture, and while historical patterns can be informative, they’re never perfect predictors of future movements.

The key takeaway is that sentiment extremes often precede significant moves, but the direction of those moves isn’t always obvious from sentiment alone. The current environment combines low social sentiment with established positioning and strong network fundamentals, creating a potentially interesting setup for Ethereum.