Ethereum (ETH) fell 5.91% to $2,815.77 on Thursday, marking a short-term pullback amid lighter trading activity, according to CoinMarketCap data. The 24-hour trading volume declined to $23.65 billion, down 13.9%, reflecting reduced participation. Over the past week, ETH averaged $2,813.15, down 4.5%, signaling a steady correction rather than a market panic.
The decline comes as ETH prepares to deploy the ERC-8004 standard, a blockchain upgrade aimed at providing portable on-chain identities, reputation tracking, and validation capabilities for AI agents, a move that could reshape decentralized AI infrastructure.
Deeper Retracement Risk if MSB Fails
In X post, Crypto analyst Lennaert Snyder notes that ETH is holding critical support near $2,930, with a low probability of breaking the weekly low. Analysts are focusing on long positions if the market confirms a market structure break (MSB) above $2,969, potentially opening the path toward $3,070–$3,080 liquidity levels.
ETH recently staged a strong impulsive rally from $2,815–$2,830, shifting short-term momentum from bearish to bullish. The pullback into the $2,920–$2,950 support zone is considered a controlled retracement rather than a breakdown, a classic bullish setup.
Traders will be watching whether the MSB holds above this level, as a failure could trigger deeper retracement toward weekly support.
Ethereum Launches ERC-8004 Token Standard
Ethereum is preparing a major infrastructure upgrade with the ERC-8004 token standard, developed by the Ethereum Foundation and Consensys.
The standard allows autonomous AI agents to operate across networks while maintaining verifiable identities, reputations, and validation records. Each AI agent will be represented as an ERC-721 NFT containing metadata for capabilities, endpoints, and credentials.
Davide Crapis, AI lead at the Ethereum Foundation, confirmed the rollout: “The ERC-8004 standard is coming to mainnet this February, marking the genesis month for autonomous AI agents on ETH.”
Foundation engineers argue that scalable AI ecosystems require trust-minimized coordination layers, something ERC-8004 delivers.
The standard supports cross-platform AI service discovery, reputation tracking, and interoperability, effectively positioning ETH and its Layer 2 networks as the backbone for machine economies. With the global AI market projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2031, ERC-8004 strengthens ETH’s role beyond decentralized finance.
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