Ether has faced renewed selling pressure, with traders watching a price drift toward a critical support zone as bearish sentiment deepens. A roughly 14% slide over the past 10 days culminated in a notable surge in leveraged liquidations, underscoring the fragility of near-term demand for the network’s data-processing capabilities. The latest move comes as broader market dynamics remain tethered to Bitcoin, with cyclical risk-off trades and hedging activity intensifying as on-chain activity cools and institutional flows remain unsettled.
Key takeaways
- ETH futures liquidations reached $224 million after a 14% price drop over 10 days, coinciding with a broad pullback in on-chain activity and a precarious bias in the options market.
- Derivatives data show a sharp shift toward downside hedging, with the ETH put-to-call volume premium spiking to 2.2x and the 30-day delta skew at 18%, signaling elevated demand for protection against further declines.
- Ethereum’s network fundamentals deteriorated, with total value locked (TVL) dipping to $51 billion—the lowest level since May 2025—and 30-day network fees sliding to $13.7 million, indicating waning activity on the chain.
- Valuable anchor events added pressure, including a reported $7 million in ETH sales tied to donations associated with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, contributing to a cautious mood around the asset.
- US-listed Ether ETFs recorded outsized outflows, totaling about $405 million since Feb. 11, driving assets under management down to roughly $12.4 billion and signaling continued institutional repositioning.
- The price path remains tightly correlated with Bitcoin, as Ether’s and BTC’s 20-day correlation held in the upper echelons, reinforcing the perception that macro flows dominate near-term moves.
The latest price action saw Ether fall toward the $1,800 level, erasing a substantial portion of gains from late last year and prompting traders to reassess risk exposure. The pullback has not only tested support but also exposed the fragility of the current floor, particularly as options markets show a renewed appetite for hedges rather than directional bets. The sentiment is not just about a single order book imbalance; it reflects a combination of thinner on-chain activity, lower disposable fees, and a sense that investors are waiting for clearer catalysts before re-engaging with sustained long exposure.
On the derivatives front, the market’s mood shifted abruptly on Tuesday. The put-to-call volume premium in ETH options rose to 2.2 times, a visible tilt toward downside protection as market participants positioned for increased volatility. The delta skew—an indicator of the relative pricing of puts versus calls—stood at about 18% on that day, underscoring that hedging costs were skewed toward protection rather than speculative bets on immediate rebounds. In practice, this configuration implies a market bracing for further price disruption, even as some traders may still tilt toward selling puts to attempt a bounce, a strategy that often backfires in persistent drawdowns.
The chain’s fundamental metrics corroborate a darker near-term outlook. Ethereum’s total value locked declined to around $51 billion, marking a multi-quarter low that suggests reduced appetite for DeFi protocols and the kinds of capital-intensive activity that historically sustain higher gas demand. Network fees have also cooled, averaging roughly $13.7 million over the past 30 days—well below late-2025 levels—and hint at a softer cadence of user activity and contract interaction. Against this backdrop, sentiment around encoding and data processing on the network remains subdued, with potential knock-on effects for validators and ecosystem development projects.
Beyond the on-chain and derivatives signals, a notable social and governance dynamic has fed into the mood music. A recent round of ETH sales linked to donations associated with Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, drew additional attention. In January, Buterin earmarked a considerable tranche of ETH—16,384 ETH—for philanthropic purposes spanning privacy-focused technologies, open-source hardware, and secure, verifiable software systems. While charitable in nature, the sale added a layer of bearish optics during a week already defined by fragile confidence and risk-off trading. The optics reflect a broader theme: even constructive or altruistic actions can weigh on investor sentiment when market participants are looking for signals of durable demand recovery.
Further pressure has come from ETF-related trends. Outflows from Ether ETFs have been persistent, with US-listed Ether ETFs recording net withdrawals that have pushed total assets under management down to around $12.4 billion. The pace of withdrawals has accelerated since mid-February, contributing to a sense that institutional players are rebalancing away from Ether in favor of other assets or strategies. The development occurs alongside broader gold-market activity, where gold ETFs saw sizable inflows in the latest reporting period, highlighting a contrast in capital allocation across traditional and crypto-linked investment products.
From a price-movement standpoint, Ether remains tightly correlated with Bitcoin, a relationship that has historically amplified both upside and downside in periods of macro-driven risk appetite. The 20-day correlation between Ether and Bitcoin has hovered in the high 90s, illustrating how a single market narrative—risk-off sentiment—can pull both assets in the same direction for extended stretches. This correlation complicates a clean technical recovery play for Ether, as a broad risk-off backdrop can forestall sustained rallies even when Ether-specific catalysts emerge.
Amid this confluence of signals, traders face a difficult calibration: hedge protection while recognizing the potential for further declines, weigh the durability of on-chain usage against the immediate squeeze on liquidity, and monitor the evolving flow dynamics that continue to shape institutional positioning. The current environment is not merely about price—it is about the balance between hedging demand, network activity, and the liquidity hooks that can either slow or accelerate a potential drag on Ether’s value.
The broader backdrop remains essential. As risk sentiment in crypto persists in a cautious mode and macro flow regimes continue to influence asset dispersion, Ether’s path will depend as much on the resilience of hedging mechanisms and ETF liquidity as on any single protocol upgrade or on-chain development. The market is currently prioritizing protection over speculation, and until derivatives metrics stabilize and on-chain usage strengthens, the path of least resistance could tilt lower rather than higher.
Market context: The current dynamics place Ether in a broader risk-off framework where liquidity, hedging, and ETF flows weigh as heavily as on-chain activity in determining near-term momentum. In such an environment, macro catalysts and cross-asset capital allocation will continue to shape the trajectory of Ether alongside Bitcoin and other major crypto benchmarks.
Why it matters
For investors, the confluence of a price drop, rising hedging activity, and persistent ETF outflows signals a period of heightened caution. The absence of a clear catalyst for a fast revival raises the probability that Ether could test lower supports before any durable recovery materializes. Traders must weigh the cost of hedges against the risk of a deeper drawdown, particularly in a landscape where futures positions can unwind rapidly in response to new macro cues.
For builders and protocol participants, the softness in on-chain activity and the readiness of markets to hedge rather than deploy funds may influence decisions around network improvements, layer-2 integrations, and development roadmaps. A sustained reduction in network usage could impact fee-based incentives for validators and the long-term economic design of the platform, prompting a closer look at throughput solutions and utilization strategies.
For policymakers and institutional watchers, the flow dynamics around Ether ETFs and other crypto investment products offer insight into how mainstream capital is approaching crypto assets during stress. The rate of outflows and the resilience of liquidity in key products can inform discussions about product design, investor protection, and the evolving regulatory framework governing crypto markets.
What to watch next
- Monitor Ether’s price action around the $1,800 level for any decisive break or a potential bounce in the next 1–2 weeks.
- Track Ether ETF inflows/outflows and any new filings or product adjustments that could signal shifting institutional appetite.
- Watch Deribit and other venues for changes in put-call ratios and delta skew, which would indicate evolving hedging pressure.
- Observe on-chain metrics like TVL and network fees for any uptick in activity that could precede a tactical recovery.
- Keep an eye on the 20-day ETH/BTC correlation, as a sustained decoupling would be a meaningful sign of evolving market dynamics.
Sources & verification
- ETH price movement to around $1,800 and the $224 million leveraged liquidations over 48 hours.
- Deribit-based derivatives data showing a 2.2x put-to-call premium and an 18% delta skew for ETH options.
- Ethereum network metrics: TVL at $51 billion and 30-day network fees at $13.7 million.
- Vitalik Buterin’s ETH sale tied to donations for privacy-focused technologies and open-source hardware (ETH donations noted in January).
- US-listed Ether ETF net outflows totaling approximately $405 million since Feb. 11, with AUM around $12.4 billion.
- BTC–ETH 20-day correlation readings indicating tight co-movement over recent weeks.