Here’s Ethereum’s Next Move after $440M Liquidations

Ethereum Price Insights:

• Ethereum (ETH) price is currently trading at $1,575 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023) as the bulls attempt to reclaim losses from Monday’s flash rally. 
• Derivatives market data shows that ETH Futures traders closed out contracts worth $440 million after the Spot ETF approval hoax sent ETH above $1,600 on Monday. 
• Technical indicators reveal how the current shortfall in the ETH futures market could impact Ethereum prices in the days ahead. 

Ethereum Futures traders closed out contracts worth $440 million after the Bitcoin (BTC) Spot ETF approval hoax sent ETH price above $1,600 on Monday. Technical indicators reveal how the current shortfall in the ETH futures market could impact Ethereum prices in the days ahead. 

Ethereum Traders Closed Contracts Worth $440M after Spot ETF Approval Hoax

On Monday October 16, Ethereum price skyrocketed above $1,600 as the markets reacted to Cointelegraph’s hoax news report about the iShares’ Spot Bitcoin approval. Price crashed rapidly within an hour after Blackrock confirmed the news to be false. 

That event directly led to millions of dollars worth of capital being wiped out from Ethereum Futures markets. 

As depicted below, ETH Open Interest reached a daily peak of $4.55 billion on October 16, before rapidly sinking to a low of $4.11 billion. This shows that ETH capital stock across Futures trading platforms dropped by $440 million within 24 hours of the hoax.

Currently, as of October 18 Ethereum’s Open Interest sits around $4.30 billion showing that investors are yet to replace the capital loss from Cointelegraph’s false report.

Open Interest is a crucial metric that measures total value of active derivative trades that have not yet been fulfilled or closed out. A decline in Open Interest means that investors have recently withdrawn more funds from the market, than those who brought in fresh Capital Inflow.

ETH Open Interest is still trending at $4.30 billion, which is 100 million  lower than the $4.40 billion recorded a day before the Cointelegraph hoax. 

However, now at $4.30 billion investors have already cut the Open Interest deficit from $440 million to $250 million within the last 48 hours. This suggests that investors are gradually regaining confidence. 

But for ETH to reclaim $1,600 price territory, the futures traders still have significant ground to cover. If the Open Interest does recover, that renewed optimism could promptly spread toward the Ethereum spot markets as well.  

ETH Price Prediction: Do the Bulls Have Enough in the Tank to Reclaim $1,600

Ethereum (ETH) price currently trades at $1,575 as the bulls make spirited attempts to reclaim losses from Monday’s flash rally. Vital technical analysis indicators also affirm the thesis that ETH could be on the verge of reclaiming $1,600. 

The RSI is currently around 42, which is firmly in neutral territory. This suggests that there might be room for a potential bounce or strong support consolidation in the short term.

 In the daily time frame, the upper Bollinger Band indicates that ETH initial resistance is at $1,611.  A decisive breakout above this level could trigger a larger upswing toward the upper band at $1,714.

On the downside, the lower Bollinger Band is at $1,508, which also doubles as a key psychological support level. If ETH price sinks toward below the $1,500 level it could attract significant buying interest and trigger a rapid rebound.