Ethereum price analysis: ETH/USD back below $500; Vitalik Buterin says the spam attack on ETH network costed up to $15M

• Ethereum touched $516, but failed to go any further.
• Ethereum’s founder shares his thoughts on the consequences of spam attack.

Ethereum is trading at $473 after a failed attempt to break above $500 handle. The second largest coin with a current market value  $47.7B has been moving in sync with Bitcoin and other major coins; however the upside is limited  despite the recovery from the recent low. Both volatility and trading volumes are low during Asian hours.

The recent spam-attack on Ethereum network cost t about $15M, according to the estimations made by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.  

“According to my estimates, the recent tx spam on the ETH network cost up to ~$15m USD (~= 5m green teas, ~75 lambos, ~25 Coinbase seed rounds, ~0.9% of Telegram ICO) Free market principles prevent me from being too upset at someone using the ETH blockchain as they wish, but wow,” he wrote in his Twitter account.

The community noticed a strong rise of Gas cost amid reduced transaction volume (from $1.4M to 500,000) and suspected that something wrong was going. Some developers even accused EOS of the attack on Ethereum network.

Ethereum’s technical picture

Looking technically, ETH/USD is supported by 100-SMA at $470 (1-hour chart). Once it is cleared, the sell-off may be extended towards $460 (Fibo retracement) and $421 (the lowest level of July 12). On the upside, the resistance is created by $487 (50-SMA) and psychological $500, followed by $516 (recent high).

ETH/USD, 1-hour chart