Ethereum under pressure after failed $3.4K hold – What comes next?

Ethereum slipped into a short-term downtrend after failing to hold above $3,400 six days ago.

Since then, Ethereum [ETH] traded inside a minor descending channel and briefly dipped to a local low near $2,800. At press time, ETH traded at $2,926, down 6.9% on the daily chart, extending a week-long bearish stretch.

That decline pushed both unrealized and realized losses sharply higher across derivatives markets.

Whale losses mount on Hyperliquid

One Ethereum whale saw unrealized losses swell past $54 million as prices slid below $3,000.

Following Ethereum’s recovery attempt after the April crash, a Bitcoin whale rotated capital into Ethereum.

The entity, labeled “BitcoinOG” on Arkham, shifted from Bitcoin and opened aggressive ETH long positions. In total, the whale built nearly $700 million in leveraged long exposure, becoming Hyperliquid’s largest ETH long holder.

As Ethereum revisited sub-$3,000 levels, the whale’s ETH longs lost more than $54.81 million in value. At the same time, unrealized profit fell from roughly $119.6 million to nearly $54 million.

Even so, liquidation remained distant. The whale’s estimated liquidation price sat near $2,082.

That buffer suggested conviction, with no positions closed despite mounting drawdowns.

Liquidations accelerate across futures markets

Besides the soaring unrealized losses in the Futures market, exits and forced liquidations jumped substantially. 

According to CoinGlass data, Derivatives Volume surged 53.5% to $87.15 billion while Open Interest dropped 55.29% to $37.67 billion. 

Typically, a drop in OI while Volume rises means many offsetting trades were executed as traders squared their books. 

As a result, Ethereum liquidations skyrocketed, reaching $196 million on the 15th of December and $58 million on the next day. Long’s liquidation dominated, reaching $213 million over this period. 

On-chain trackers also flagged individual wipeouts during the drawdown.

According to Onchain Lens, trader Machi Big Brother suffered another forced liquidation on a 25x SETH long. The event marked his tenth liquidation in recent weeks.

Since the 10th of October market crash, the account recorded over 200 liquidations, with losses surpassing $22.9 million. At the last update, the account balance stood at $53,178.

Momentum weakens as selling pressure builds

Price action reflected the growing stress across Derivatives markets. Ethereum fell sharply as cascading liquidations reinforced downside momentum.

That move pushed the Stochastic RSI deep into oversold territory, settling near 17 at press time.

Such readings typically reflected strong selling pressure and weak short-term momentum.

If liquidation pressure persisted, ETH could revisit the $2,700 region, where Parabolic SAR support previously emerged.

By contrast, any sustainable recovery likely required bulls to reclaim $3,000 decisively. Beyond that, upside targets remained capped near $3,436, where Parabolic SAR resistance last aligned.

Final Thoughts

• Ethereum’s recent decline highlighted how leverage, rather than spot demand, shaped short-term price action.
• While major whales remained insulated, broader futures markets showed little tolerance for drawdowns.