Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.
Ethereum is experiencing a solid increase in trading volume and activity, with trading volume on major platforms rising by more than 150%.
That kind of expansion appears bullish at first, but a closer look reveals a more mixed structure. The volume of futures dominates the derivatives market. With OKX and Gate adding substantial depth, Binance alone is pushing over $13 billion.
A bias toward longs, albeit not an extreme one, is confirmed by the long/short ratios that are consistently above 1 across several exchanges. This is significant because crowded longs are often penalized when the price stalls.
That tension is reinforced by liquidation data. Short liquidations ($82 million) exceed long liquidations ($34 million) over the past day, indicating that recent upward pressure forced bears out. However, when you zoom in, the shorter timeframes reveal that long and short liquidations alternate in dominance.
Short-term pressure
The narrative of flows is similar. The 1-hour and 4-hour windows turn negative, but the short-term futures inflows are positive (5–15 minute windows show strong net inflows). While capital is coming in, it is not staying. That is more indicative of speculative outbursts than long-term conviction.
ETH is showing a mild declining structure on the chart, as it compresses under resistance between $2,340 and $2,360. The price is still capped below the 100 EMA, which is still a significant dynamic resistance, but it is above the short-term moving averages.
Although there was a significant rebound from below-$2,000 levels, the current momentum is turning into consolidation rather than continuation. The 50 EMA and recent higher lows line up at $2,280-$2,200, which is the crucial level below. If you lose that, the structure returns to being weak.
Where is it coming from?
Heavy resistance is located at $2,500, which can be reached after a clean break of $2,360.
Where is the volume coming from, then? It's mostly derivatives, with traders switching between short-term and long-term positions rather than committing long-term capital. Because of this, despite the surge, the price isn't breaking cleanly.
The lesson for investors is straightforward: this is not a conviction-driven move, but rather one driven by liquidity. Continuation is possible if ETH breaks through resistance with consistent inflows. If not, before any significant trend resumes, anticipate another cycle of rejection and a retest of lower support.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
