Ethereum price in danger? Whales sell, leverage fades – What next

Key Takeaways

Ethereum is under pressure. Is this a smart liquidity flush targeting late longs or the start of full-blown capitulation?

Ethereum [ETH] leaned bearish on orderbooks. 

On the 17th of August, ETH briefly rose by 1.13%, suggesting a potential bullish attempt to stabilize near the $4,500 level. 

However, the momentum quickly faded, and ETH dropped by 9.12% over the following two sessions, reaffirming bearish dominance.

The decline deepened into a 14% weekly loss, with prices touching $4,076. marking Ethereum’s steepest cyclical pullback in nearly two months. 

Overall, sell-side pressure remains firmly in control, keeping ETH’s market structure tilted toward the bearish side.

Source: TradingView (ETH/USDT)

Leverage builds despite losses

In this setup, chasing longs looks like a high-risk move.

Still, stayed tilted long, with Binance’s 24H perp flow showing 68% long skew, marking an 8% uptick from the prior day.

That’s a sharp contrast to Ethereum’s mid-June cycle. Back then, ETH dumped nearly 25% in two weeks as Open Interest (OI) flushed from $41.75 billion to $28.41 billion, clearing leverage and sparking an 80% rebound.

Despite the drawdown, OI has expanded to $60.72 billion, marking a 1.75% uptick from the previous day. That meant leverage leverage stayed stacked, keeping rebound attempts fragile.

Is the market forcing a reset in Ethereum?

With Ethereum testing the $4k support, traders split on intent. 

Smart money unloaded.

Three whales dumped roughly 34.5k ETH at an average of $4.2k, netting about $150 million. ETFs are bleeding too, with three straight days of red and $170 million in outflows.

The result? Ethereum longs are getting squeezed hard. $131 million in long liquidations fired in the past 24H, erasing a $141.7 million liquidity pocket near $4,156, or 74% of total

Source: CoinGlass

Flush or panic?

The debate remained: Is this panic selling or a smart-money engineered flush to shake weak hands? Whales booked profits, not losses, so this wasn’t a full-blown capitulation where conviction fades.

Instead, it looked like a strategic prune. 

Overleveraged longs flushed, OI could reset, and a cleaner dip might form for smart money. From there, the next rebound might follow June’s playbook, building into a stronger, more sustainable run.