Ethereum’s price continues to tread water in a complex environment as its total Ethereum staked sees a significant drop. In just five days, the total value staked has tanked by over 120,000 ETH. That’s nearly $192 million down the drain! This reduction directionally matches a rise in ETH supply on exchanges, which adds further bearish pressure to the cryptocurrency’s price. Market volatility continued to be at record highs, causing large liquidations throughout the entire cryptocurrency market. If upcoming key support levels for ETH do not hold, we can expect a continued decrease in its value.
ETH/USDT 4-Hour Chart ETH is in a clear downtrend. Currently, the crypto is testing support from an ascending triangle around the $1,600 mark. On the downside, if the price breaks down from this triangle, it might slide down to test the important support of $1,522. Bulls must hold the line here to stop bleeding.
Declining Staking Balances and Exchange Inflows
ETH investors who have staked their tokens are starting to show strength after washing out their staked supply. Ethereum’s total value staked is obviously on a downward trend. This means that a portion of investors are unstaking their tokens, presumably to sell them on the open market. This flood of unstaked tokens would increase the downside pressure on ETH, especially if the sentiment in the market continues to be bearish.
This has resulted in the supply of ETH on exchanges rising by close to 400,000 ETH since the start of April. This influx of exchange supply was one major factor leading to price drops below $1,500 last week. The growing availability of ETH on exchanges shows that more investors are willing to sell. This continuation is adding even more bearish pressure to the cryptocurrency’s price.
Market Uncertainty and Liquidation Events
High levels of market uncertainty ushered in a huge crypto market shakeout. Total liquidations were $2.18 billion in crypto, with Ethereum leading the pack. The Ethereum market had $24.72 million in liquidated long positions compared to $9.58 million in liquidated short ETH positions.
This unprecedented wave of liquidations comes as crypto remains highly volatile, with risk-off sentiment sweeping investors in the market. Intuitively, investors respond quickly to price movements by liquidating to avoid loss. This rapid response enhances the short-term volatility of the market movements and increases uncertainty.
Technical Indicators and Whale Activity
Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) remain mostly above their neutral marks since last Friday. This means that buyer accumulation is underlying the market with serious strength. Yet, these indicators haven’t been enough to overcome the no doubt deepening bearish sentiment.
Notably, Ethereum whales with balances of 10,000 ETH to 100,000 ETH reversed from net sellers to net purchasers on Tuesday. Whale ETH behavior is changing, which can provide uplift to ETH price. Yet, it remains to be seen if this buying pressure can surmount the current headwinds.
