Ethereum is in a bit of a tricky spot these days. ETH was trading at $2,354 this morning and was still sliding, down 0.84% over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin is hovering around $80,000, while Ethereum is languishing below $2,400—its weakest stretch in nearly a year.
First, leverage. This weekend’s market-wide shakeout wiped out nearly $9 billion in leveraged altcoin positions, and ETH wasn’t spared: derivatives positions were sharply cut back. But there’s another side to the story: after the leverage flush, staking data actually strengthened, and on-chain activity didn’t collapse. That suggests real holders are staying put—the speculators are the ones leaving.
Now, on the fundamentals. Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade had been highly anticipated by the market, but its last-minute delay dented short-term sentiment. This isn’t a disaster in itself—upgrade delays are common in crypto. What matters is whether the team provides a new timeline. Until the positive news actually materializes, the market needs patience.
One detail worth noting on the flows front: ETH perpetual futures funding rates have turned positive again, suggesting that bulls are once again willing to pay to hold their positions and that sentiment is recovering. On the other hand, Ethereum ETFs are still seeing net outflows, so institutional money hasn’t returned yet. Historically, retail sentiment recovering ahead of institutional sentiment has often been one sign that the market is near a bottom.
Here’s another set of data to watch closely: if ETH falls below $2,239, cumulative long liquidation intensity across major exchanges would reach $580 million. In other words, there’s still a pile of leveraged positions below, and a breakdown could accelerate the sell-off. Conversely, as long as ETH can reclaim and hold the $2,400 level, this bottoming structure remains intact.
My take: Ethereum is in a bottoming phase where it seems unable to fall further or rally. The good news is that a lot of leverage has already been flushed out; the bad news is that there’s no catalyst to ignite sentiment. If the FOMC sends a dovish signal, ETH will likely have more upside potential than BTC.
How much longer do you think ETH’s bottoming phase will last? How long will the upgrade delay weigh on it? Let’s discuss in the comments.