Summary
- On Friday, Ethereum surged nearly 15% after Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested potential rate cuts, but fell just short of surpassing its all-time high of $4,878.
- In the past 24 hours, more than $340 million in Ethereum long and short positions were liquidated, accounting for over half of all crypto market liquidations.
- Factors like regulatory support, corporate treasury purchases, and ETF inflows have boosted demand for the asset but have not managed to break through a price peak that has remained for nearly four years.
Short sellers faced substantial losses totaling hundreds of millions on Friday as ETH nearly surpassed its all-time high, but ultimately failed to do so.
In just 24 hours, more than $259 million in ETH short positions have been liquidated, according to data from CoinGlass. Additionally, $80 million in long positions have expired, bringing total liquidations for ETH in the past day to over $340 million.
This total reflects more than half of all liquidations across the entire crypto market within the last 24 hours. Approximately $668 million in crypto derivatives have been lost in the past day, indicating a strong focus on ETH.
Ethereum has experienced a surge in August following a generally uneventful year, yet it faltered again this week amid economic uncertainties. However, a long-anticipated cue from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, suggesting potential interest rate cuts, ignited a rally in Ethereum and other altcoins.
Following the announcement, ETH surged nearly 15%, briefly reaching a value of $4,842. Its previous all-time high of $4,878 was achieved almost four years ago, on November 10, 2021—at the height of the last crypto bull market.
Despite this push, traders couldn’t take ETH past the finish line. After nearing a new record, within 1%, it stalled and eventually dipped below the $4,800 mark. The current trading price of ETH is $4,773. Last week, the token also nearly reached a record before dipping.
In recent months, developments in U.S. regulations have particularly favored Ethereum, attracting more interest from investors, analysts noted to Decrypt. Furthermore, significant acquisitions of the token through corporate treasury investments and ETH ETF inflows have had a meaningful deflationary effect on Ethereum’s economic model.
“ETH exhibits particularly dynamic behaviors,” Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, remarked in a note shared with Decrypt. He favorably compared Ethereum’s expanding ecosystem of services built on smart contracts to Apple’s now-ubiquitous App Store.
Despite the momentum, ETH has yet to break into new price realms. The cryptocurrency has been slow to react, struggling to reach new heights while its competitors continue to set records in the current bull market.
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