Ethereum Price Forecast: Network energy consumption drops below half of British Museum levels

Ethereum price today: $1,790

• Ethereum's annual electricity consumption is now 7.87 GWh, less than 50% of that consumed by the British Museum.
• The network's carbon  footprint has also dropped to 2.37 ktCO₂e, 99.98% below pre-Merge levels.
• ETH is retesting the $1,806 resistance and 50-day EMA.

Ethereum (ETH) energy consumption has decreased by 99.9% since The Merge, an event that transitioned the smart contract blockchain from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus.

In a report released last month, researchers at Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) stated that Ethereum's continuous power demand has dropped to 0.90MW, below its pre-Merge baseline of about 2.4 GW, "a figure that once rivaled the electricity demand of a small country."

Through an audit of roughly 8,522 full nodes that store and process the network's data, the researchers noted that Ethereum's annual electricity consumption is now 7.87 GWh, less than 50% of that consumed by the British Museum.

"If Ethereum's pre-Merge energy consumption were the height of the Statue of Liberty, the post-Merge network would be a golf ball resting at its base," the report stated.

Ethereum once relied on the energy-intensive PoW consensus mechanism to validate transactions and ensure its security. As a result, it faced heavy criticism for years before eventually transitioning to PoS in September 2022.

“Under PoW, electricity consumption was the price paid for consensus. Under PoS, security is collateralised by staked capital, and electricity represents the operating cost of the participating node population,” the research stated.

Cambridge researchers highlighted that the United States (31%), Germany (16%), Finland (8%) and France (6%) account for 62% of the network's full nodes. Based on the grids hosting these nodes, Ethereum is powered by an electricity mix of 56.4% sustainable energy and 43.6% fossil fuels. That places its annual emissions at 2.37 ktCO₂e, 99.98% below pre-Merge levels and roughly equal to the combined carbon footprint of 900 UK households, the report estimates.

The researchers also noted that Ethereum's carbon footprint will fall even if its electricity consumption remains flat, as long as the grids powering full nodes decarbonize.

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH retests 50-day EMA

On the daily chart, ETH is maintaining a bearish near-term bias as it remains below both the 50- and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1,801 and $1,957. Price remains above the 20-day EMA at $1,724, hinting at some short-term support, but the broader structure is capped by a dense band of overhead levels.

Momentum reads as constructive, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 57 and the Stochastic stretched into overbought territory near 85, suggesting recovery attempts could face profit-taking against these nearby moving-average barriers.

On the topside, immediate resistance is seen at the convergence of the 50-day EMA and the $1,806 level, followed by horizontal resistance at $1,909 and the 100-day EMA. A thicker supply zone is between $2,018 and $2,107.

On the downside, initial support is located at the recent horizontal floor around $1,741, reinforced by the 20-day EMA at $1,724. A break lower would expose the next structural cushions at $1,524 and $1,404, with a deeper bearish extension pointing toward $1,155.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)