Ethereum investors jittery as ETH price pre-Merge rebound deteriorates

Ethereum price risks falling into a bull trap before the actual pre-Merge rally.
The leading NFT marketplace, OpenSea, promises to solely support the Ethereum proof-of-stake chain post Merge.
A possible bear flag pattern points to a 17% decline to $1,305.

Ethereum price is hunting for two things ahead of the Merge; stability and a sustained uptrend. This week's rebound from support at $1,425 briefly changed its technical dynamics, favoring bulls. However, the recovery dampened at $1,618, ascribing to investor skepticism amid fears of a sell the news campaign.

The State of Ethereum price ahead of the Merge

The Merge refers to a software upgrade that will see Ethereum ditch the high energy-consuming proof-of-work (Pow) consensus for the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithm. Ether developers have over the years postponed this transition, but a soft release date was recently announced – around September 15.

Meanwhile, the Merge appears to be doing little for Ether – a factor that could wear down the investor who has prepared for the event in the last few months. Ethereum price has recently been shooting up during the Asian sessions; however, the increases are short-lived in the European and American sessions.

"Yesterday, we managed to break $1,547 but have since retraced to support here. If this level breaks, then $1,424 is the next level below. If we can pivot off $1,547, then $1,653 is the next target, where we will begin to see resistance starting at this level and a cluster of levels above in the $1,700s," reads a trade idea shared by Quantguy on Tradingview.

ETH/USD price chart

OpenSea confirms support for Ethereum PoS post Merge

The giant NFT platform, OpenSea, has pledged support for only Ethereum PoS following the Merge. Exchanges and other service providers have also vowed to support the more energy-efficient protocol.

OpenSea seems to have taken a subtle approach on possible Ethereum forks – choosing not to speculate. Users on the platform should know that the NFT marketplace will not support digital assets on the Ethereum PoW blockchain.

Ether price pre-Merge recovery could be in jeopardy

Ethereum price presented a bullish signal when the 12-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) crossed above the 26-day EMA in the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator. The second-largest cryptocurrency broke above $1,600 when the MACD stepped above the mean line (0.00).

ETH/USD four-hour chart

However, with the MACD's movement restricted around the mean line, ETH price toppled to trade at $1,561. Moreover, declines will likely surge if a bear flag pattern is confirmed on the four-hour chart. The recent support at $1,425 may not hold because the breakout might stretch 17% beneath the governing chart pattern to $1,305.

On the flip side, Ethereum price might advance to retest $1,700 if the bear flag pattern breakout aborts. A daily close above $1,600 would be a bullish signal – perhaps strong enough to attract more buyers for a move beyond $2,000.

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