Ethereum reclaimed the $2,000 level after three days below it, touching a high of $2,092 amid heightened volatility. Despite this rebound, large investors, or whales, are aggressively shorting the market, with one depositing $4.89 million to open a $20 million short position. Retail trader activity in the futures market has increased, primarily taking long positions, creating a divergence from whale sentiment as technical indicators point to continued bearish pressure.
After holding below $2,000 for three days, Ethereum finally reclaimed this key level and touched a high of $2,092. At press time, ETH traded at $2,059 after a slight 0.46% rise on the daily charts.
With ETH barely holding above $2,000, whales are turning bearish and aggressively shorting the market. A significant amount of shorts were liquidated as ETH reclaimed $2,000, with over $38 million in shorts liquidated compared to $31 million in longs.
According to a post by Onchain Lens, a whale deposited $4.89 million into HyperLiquid and opened an ETH short position with 20x leverage. The whale opened its position at 9,887 ETH, worth $20 million.
Interestingly, although whales are shorting, their participation in the Futures market is minimal. CryptoQuant’s Futures Average Order Size data showed increased, sustained retail orders.
Retail traders have piled in around $2,040 and $1,900, a trend that has persisted through March. Their participation has largely been on the buy side, with Derivatives Taker Buy Sell remaining positive.
Meanwhile, the altcoin’s Long Short Ratio rose above 1.008, averaging 1.7 across Binance and OKX. This reflects the disconnection between retail traders and whale sentiment.
Ethereum experienced relief and reclaimed $2,000 as short traders rushed to cover their positions. Demand for longs accelerated among small-scale traders simultaneously.
However, short covering was inadequate to lift ETH to make meaningful gains. As a result, the momentum remained bearish, turning the bounce short-lived.
Looking at the MACD, the momentum indicator remained negative and was spotted at -19 as of writing. A negative MACD suggested that downside pressure has significantly outpaced any upside pressure.
The Upside Downside Volatility further validated this trend, with Upside Volatility around 2.07 and downside above it at 2.9. This indicates sellers are more aggressive and down moves are stronger than up moves.
Such market conditions signal the likelihood of another market slide. If the overall bearish sentiment continues to dominate, ETH could slide below $2,000 again, with $1,900 as immediate support.
