Ethereum nears key Bitcoin price level that last time sparked 450% gains

Ethereum’s Ether (ETH) token is approaching a critical price zone against Bitcoin (BTC), which historically marked the beginning of a massive rebound.

The ETH/BTC pair, currently trading near 0.019 BTC, is edging closer to 0.016 BTC — the exact level it reached in September 2019 before rallying nearly 450% over the following year.

The current ETH/BTC setup resembles 2019, with both periods marked by oversold relative strength index (RSI), long stretches below key moving averages, and multiyear declines.

In 2019, ETH/BTC fell over 90% in the prior two years, driven by the ICO collapse.

As of 2025, the pair is down over 80% from its 2021 peak, weighed by skepticism over Ethereum’s switch to proof-of-stake (PoS), rising competition, and Bitcoin’s growing dominance as an institutional asset.

In response to the growing concerns, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed new architecture and protocol-wide standards to make Ethereum simpler, faster, and as maintainable as Bitcoin within five years.

Related: Ethereum to simplify crosschain transactions with new token standards

One analyst called Buterin’s proposal “the most bullish thing for ETH.”

The bullish hopes come as ETH/BTC attempts to break free from its multi-year “bearish parabola.” This resistance curve has been instrumental in limiting the pair’s upside attempts since December 2021 but showed signs of exhaustion as of May 3.

“We might see an end of this bearish parabola,” wrote chartist Jimie.

He noted that if the curved resistance holds, ETH/BTC could drop toward 0.016 BTC — the same level where it bottomed in September 2019 before rallying by roughly 450%.

Skeptics like Bitcoin’s proof-of-work pioneer, Adam Back, argue that Buterin is overlooking deeper design flaws while proposing to simplify Ethereum in the coming years.

Back criticizes Ethereum’s account-based system, saying it adds unnecessary complexity compared to Bitcoin’s simpler UTXO (unspent transaction output) model. He argues this growing complexity increases technical risks and makes Ethereum harder to scale and secure.

He also warns that Ethereum’s shift to PoS has concentrated power among insiders by redirecting miner rewards to large tokenholders.

“At this point, just flush ETH before it hits zero and buy Bitcoin,” he wrote, suggesting no upgrade can fix what he views as Ethereum’s flawed foundation.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.