Ethereum Price Under Pressure: Whales, Derivatives Market Exits Signal Waning Appetite

After dipping below $1,800 earlier in the month, the price of Ethereum has since reclaimed the $2,000 level, which is considered a psychological support zone for many traders. Over the past week, though, the price showed mild downward pressure, struggling to hold sustainably above the $2,000 level.

Whale Activity Signals Potential Volatility Surge In Ethereum Markets

In a post on the X platform, crypto analyst Joao Wedson stated that there has been a major shift in the behavior of Ethereum’s large holders. The market pundit also pointed out that something deeper may be happening under the surface.

Wedson asserted that wallet addresses holding between 100,000 and 1,000,000 ETH have significantly reduced their holdings over the past 90 days, showing that big holders are selling or moving large amounts of ETH. What’s more interesting is that this shave-off is happening from non-exchange whale wallets.

In other words, major private ETH holders, institutions, or early investors may be actively decreasing their exposure, and this could indicate profit-taking, risk-off positioning, or preparation for volatility. All in all, Wedson noted that when this group of whales begins to unwind positions, it often means that a structural shift is occurring beneath the surface.

As of this writing, the price of Ethereum stands at around $2,010, showing an almost 5% jump in the past 24 hours.

Slumping Global Backdrop Affecting ETH Most

According to a recent on-chain observation, this strategic move by ETH large holders could be connected to the worsening macroeconomic conditions. Pseudonymous analyst Darkfost, in a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, revealed that the global economic backdrop is slowly losing momentum, and Ethereum seems to be the most impacted altcoin so far.

Starting with the risk-off global climate, Darkfost referenced the core Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level. The Core PPI MoM at +0.8% confirmed persistence of inflation, suggesting that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates soon, which is unfavorable for risk assets.

On top of that, the rising tension between the United States and Iran increases geopolitical uncertainty. On Saturday, the US and Israel announced military actions against Iran, which sent crypto prices tumbling over the weekend.

However, Ethereum’s Open Interest (OI) on all exchanges dropped from 7.79 million ETH to 5.8 million ETH, with about 2 million of that figure concentrated on Binance.  This exposes that traders are closing positions and leverage is being reduced, with exposure to ETH also shrinking.

Additionally, the Notional OI, which measures the total dollar value of open contracts, experienced a sharper drop as positions were closed. For instance, Binance’s Open Interest dropped from over $12.6 billion to $4.1 billion, while Bybit’s cut by two-thirds to $1.9 billion. This shows broad deleveraging across the entire market and not just one platform.

Overall, the Ethereum derivatives market is shrinking, as traders are unwinding leverage in response to macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures. Moreover, the current market condition hasn’t been particularly encouraging for investor risk appetite — as seen with the ETH whales.