An attacker sent zero-token transfers, causing empty blocks on the Ethereum testnet and compounding its price decline.
Ethereum‘s price suffered a sharp 16% decline within a mere twelve-hour period.
The price tumbled from approximately $2,140 to below the $1,800 mark.
In continued trade, Ethereum struggles to recover and currently trades near $1,860.
A Critical Moment for Ethereum
The last occasion Ethereum’s price dipped below $1,800 was in October of the previous year, 2023, during its gradual recovery phase from a prolonged two-year bear market.
The current price level is near a crucial support point that needs to hold firm. TradingView data indicates this ratio fell to 0.023 today.
Within the top twenty cryptocurrencies, only Dogecoin (DOGE), which saw a dramatic 11% loss, experienced greater losses than Ethereum on this day.
Market observers are puzzled as to why substantial Ethereum selling is occurring around the $2,000 price point.
Lookonchain’s analysis points towards large holders, or whales, selling off their assets in an attempt to proactively prevent potential liquidations as prices fall.
Contributing to the Ethereum market anxiety are ongoing complications with Pectra testnets.
Reports indicate an attacker is deliberately sending transactions involving zero tokens, leading to the creation of empty blocks within the test network.
Marius van der Wijden’s March 9th report stated developers had implemented a resolution, yet uncertainty remains.
Because they suspected the attacker monitored their communications.
He said, “We suspected that the attacker was reading some of our chats, so we decided not to publicize the fix, but only update a few nodes that we controlled in order to get more full blocks on the network.”
This secretive approach to addressing the attack may further fuel concerns amidst the already fragile market confidence surrounding Ethereum.
Also Read: Ethereum testnet Beacon Chain is now operational and ready for a trial merging
