Ethereum price has struggled to regain momentum amid volatility continuing downward trend. After closing the last four months in the red, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency shows no signs of relief in January 2026. On-chain data shows Ethereum’s current trajectory mirrors downturns in previous cycles, raising the possibility further price declines and prolonged bearish sentiment.

Ethereum price is heading for its fifth consecutive month of losses

Ethereum was already there prolonged declinemarking a fourth straight month of losses in 2025. As the market heads into the last week of January, the cryptocurrency is poised to potentially close for a fifth consecutive month in the red, which would strengthen its winning streak continuing downward trend.

On-chain data from CryptoRank can be seen that throughout 2025, there were more red months than green months in Ethereum. The cryptocurrency started the year with four consecutive months of declines from January to April, before a brief rebound in May before falling again in June. ETH then posted two months of gains, ending July and August in the green. However, this recovery was short-lived and since then the cryptocurrency has been in a downward trend.

During the latest four-month decline, CryptoRanks reported that Ethereum closed September down 5.59%. The downward trend accelerated in overdue November, with the cryptocurrency falling 22.2%, more than four times its previous monthly close. December 2025 was another month in the red, although the decline was much smaller and amounted to only 0.83%.

Now, in January 2026, Ethereum is still in a downtrend. On-chain data indicates that the cryptocurrency has already fallen by 1.78% this month and does not provide certainty signs of a bullish reversal. Moreover, as of this writing, ETH is trading above $2,900, reflecting a decline of approximately 5.95% over the past week.

What Red January Could Mean for ETH

The last time Ethereum closed in the red for five consecutive months was in 2018. This year Ethereum is performing much worseonly recording profits in 3 out of 12 months. The cryptocurrency has seen continuous monthly losses, with November seeing the largest monthly decline of 42.5%.

After a four-month streak, Ethereum’s downtrend continued for another two months before experiencing a piercing but brief recovery in December 2018. Despite this short-lived rebound, the cryptocurrency ended January 2019 in the red, falling 20%.

If history were to repeat itself in the current cycle, Ethereum could end January with a decline similar to its 2018 performance. Interestingly, historical data shows that February was often a month of growth for ETH. However, In 2025, there were decreases compared to January until April; it is uncertain whether Ethereum will follow its previous bullish patterns. For now, it is certain that the price of ETH has dropped and would require a significant raise Bullish momentum.

Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com