A quant has revealed how Ethereum (ETH) saw a death cross in this indicator shortly before bearish momentum took the asset in full force.

In a CryptoQuant Quicktake post, an analyst has shared a chart for the Funding Rates of Ethereum. The “Funding Rates” refers to a metric that keeps track of the amount of periodic fee that traders on the derivatives market are exchanging between each other right now.

When the value of this indicator is positive, it means the long contract holders are paying a premium to the short investors in order to hold onto their positions. Such a trend suggests a bullish sentiment is shared by the majority of the derivatives traders.

On the other hand, the metric being under the zero mark implies a bearish mentality is dominant in the sector, as short holders are overwhelming the long ones.

Now, here is the chart for the Ethereum Funding Rates posted by the quant, which shows the trend in the 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs) of the indicator over the last couple of years:

As displayed in the above graph, the 50-day SMA of the Ethereum Funding Rates crossed under the 200-day SMA in January of this year. This suggests that the optimism in the market witnessed a shift.

From the graph, it’s visible that since the crossover in the two SMAs of the indicator has emerged, the ETH price has been sharply moving down. The trend isn’t unique to the asset, as the wider cryptocurrency sector has also seen a similar pattern, with investors becoming risk-averse.

In the first half of last year, the Funding Rates observed the same type of crossover, and then, the Ethereum price followed up with a period of bearish action.

It wasn’t until the reverse crossover happened, with the 50-day SMA finding a break above the 200-day SMA, that bullish momentum returned in the cryptocurrency market. The same pattern was also seen back in 2023.

It’s possible that for constructive price action to return for Ethereum and other assets, a bullish crossover in the Funding Rates may once again have to take place. “When the speculators return and start using their greedy leverage, the crypto bull market will begin,” notes the analyst.

When this would happen, however, is anyone’s guess, as the 50-day and 200-day SMAs of the indicator are currently quite far apart. In 2024, the lines took many months before they crossed back, so it’s possible that it will take some time for the crossover to occur now as well.

Ethereum is moving to end the month of March on a red note as its price has fallen to the $1,800 level, after seeing a decline of almost 14% in the past week.

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