Ethereum price prediction: What’s next for ETH after losing the $3.5K support?

• ETH cracked $3.5K support, but will $3K hold ahead of nearly $4B options expire on Friday? 
• Will liquidity sweep drive the recovery towards $3.5K and $4.1K? 

Ethereum [ETH] broke the short-term support at $3.5K as the market sell-off continued into the weekend following the Fed’s hawkish rate cut. 

As of this writing, the ETH consolidated above $3.3K after a 14% pullback in the past week. Will the altcoin stay above $3K ahead of $3.8 billion worth of options set to expire on Friday, 27th December?  

ETH erases November gains

Source: ETH/USDT, TradingView

On the daily chart, the extended dump eased briefly at the 50-day EMA (Exponential Moving Average).

We plotted a Fibonacci retracement tool (yellow), between November lows and recent highs to evaluate how far the pullback could go. 

Based on the tool, the dump stabilized above the 50% Fib level. The golden ratio level, (61.8%, $3K), which always triggers potential price reversal, was just below the 50-day EMA.

So, the $3K could be the next crucial support to defend to stop the plunge. 

According to the Directional Movement Index (DMI), sellers still had an edge amid a strong downtrend as indicated by the 28 reading on the ADX (Average Directional Index, yellow). 

Can ETH reclaim $3.5K?

Source: Coinglass

Based on the liquidation heatmap, the weekly charts had concentrated short liquidations at $3.5K (previous support), $3.73K, and $4.1K. All these were upside liquidity levels which could attract price action if market sentiment shifted. 

That said, there was also a slight build-up of leveraged positions at $3K at press time, which could be liquidated if ETH dropped to the level. 

Interestingly, top whale wallets were aggressively accumulating despite the weak market sentiment.

In December, those holding 1M-10M ETH (yellow), added over 1M ETH, sharply driving their stash from 8.2M ETH to over 9.2M ETH tokens. That’s over $3.3 billion based on current market values. 

Read Ethereum [ETH] Price Prediction 2024-2025

Source: Santiment

In conclusion, whales were still bullish on ETH and the short-term bullish target of $3.5K was reachable if the psychological $3K is defended.