Recently, I've seen a lot of people debating whether they should still get into ETH at current levels. To be honest, this rally is somewhat mysterious — it looks decent on the surface, but there are quite a few issues when you dig deeper.

The technical setup is actually quite solid. In early January, ETH successfully broke through and held above the $3,000 round number level. Many are optimistic that as long as it completes a meaningful pullback confirmation above $3,000, the short-term structure would still be healthy. If the price action develops that way, the next potential upside target points to the strong resistance zone of $3,250 to $3,350. On the surface, the logic holds up.

But here's where it gets awkward — the capital flows are telling a different story. The most telling indicator is the Coinbase premium index has turned negative and dropped to its lowest level in nearly 10 months. What does this mean? U.S. institutional investors showed virtually no interest in chasing the price during the upswing, with extremely weak buying appetite. This lacklustre attitude could very well hinder the sustainability of further gains.

In the short term, key economic data like U.S. non-farm payroll will continue to drive trading sentiment, and overall market risk appetite remains cautious. Additionally, the legislative progress of the U.S. Digital Asset Market Structure Act is also on the market's watchlist and could become an important turning point down the road.

Bottom line: whether you get in or not depends on how confident you are about this technical bounce. There are legitimate reasons for a short-term rebound, but institutional indifference is definitely a risk factor that cannot be ignored.