Ethereum (ETH) price analysis: ETH/USD range-bound with bearish bias

• A move above $183.00 is needed for the upside to gain traction.
• The significant support is created on approach to 167.00.

The second-largest cryptocurrency with the current market capitalization of $19.2 has been oscillating in a tight range with a bearish bias. ETH/USD has stayed mostly unchanged both on a day-on-day basis and since the beginning of Wednesday, having retreated from the recent high $182.97 reached on Tuesday. At the time of writing, Ethereum is changing hands at $178.76 with an average daily trading volume registered at $6.9 billion.

Ethereum’s technical picture

Looking technically, strong support is created by a confluence of SMA50 (Simple Moving Average) and the middle line of Bollinger Band on 4-hour chart on approach to $175.00. Once it is out of the way, the sell-off is likely to gain traction with the next focus on psychological $170.00. The downside momentum is likely to fade away on approach to the lower boundary of the recent consolidation channel at $167.00 strengthened by the lower line of 4-hour Bollinger Band.

On the upside, a strong resistance area awaits ETH bulls on approach to $183.00. The highest level of the previous day and SMA100 4-hour coupled with the upper line of 4-hour Bollinger Band create a brick wall that is unlikely to be taken out at the first try. However, once it is cleared, the upside may be extended towards $188.00 and $190.00.

ETH/USD, 4-hour chart