The broader cryptocurrency market declined due to weak U.S. macroeconomic data, prompting a flight from risky assets. Ethereum fell below the $2,000 support level to $1,956, leading to over $56 million in long liquidations. While some large investors, or whales, opened significant short positions, one dormant whale staked $16.85 million worth of ETH, signaling long-term confidence despite growing bearish momentum in futures markets.
A market-wide downturn followed poor U.S. economic data, causing investors to pull capital from risky assets. Ethereum notably breached the $2,000 support, hitting a low near $1,956.
This drop forced many long holders out, with Coinglass data showing over $56 million in long liquidations. Large traders turned bearish, with Onchain Lens reporting one whale deposited $2.18 million to open a leveraged short.
Ethereum’s Long/Short Ratio fell below 1 to 0.96 at press time. This indicated futures participants anticipated further losses.
Conversely, a separate long-term holder demonstrated a different strategy. Onchain Lens reported a dormant whale staked 8,208 ETH, valued at $16.85 million.
This whale had accumulated the tokens for $16.09 million over four years. Their unrealized profit had significantly shrunk from its 2025 peak to about $768,000.
The move to stake during a dip is typically seen as a sign of market confidence. It suggests the whale is positioning for a long-term hold.
Technical indicators showed downside momentum was strengthening. The DMI-ADX Smoothing indicator placed the positive index in oversold territory at 20, while the negative index was higher at 22.
Despite the bearish pressure, the Future Grand Trend indicator suggested a potential recovery to $2,186 was possible. A subsequent drop to $1,800 could follow.
