Ethereum price analysis: ETH/USD sliding from recent highs, $250 remains unconquered

Ethereum, the second largest coin by market value, is trading at $240 handle with a short-term downside bias. ETH has lost nearly 2% since the beginning of Monday; however, it is still marginally higher on a day-to-day basis. The coin has been growing steadily amid global altcoins bullish run, but the momentum seems to be waning on approach to strong technical resistance at $250.

Ethereum's current market value is $25B, while the average daily trading volume is registered at $1.7B. After a short period of subdued trading on Sunday, the trading volumes and volatility are starting to rise again, which may signal that more downside correction is in store for us. 

Ethereum's technical picture

From the intraday perspective, ETH/USD is trading in a short-term channel limited by $233 on the downside and $250 on the upside. The price attempted a bullish breakthrough on Saturday and touched $254 high before the profit-taking kicked in and forced a retreat towards the current level.  While $250 handle remains the critical focus of ETH bulls, first we need to regain $240, strengthened by SMA50 (1-hour chart). Apart from that, medium resistance is located at $247 (23.6% Fibo retracement daily).

On the downside, the above-said lower line of the channel creates strong support, enhanced by SMA200 (1-hour). Once it is cleared, the bearish correction may gain traction and take the price towards $221 (Friday's low). A sustainable move lower will signal that the recovery is over for the time being.

ETH/USD, 1-hour chart