Ethereum (ETH) traders are unloading positions at a rapid pace, with taker sell volume hitting $1.2 billion in the past 24 hours.
The uptick in sell orders coincided with a 2.4 dip in ETH’s price that pushed it down to $4,272 late Monday, highlighting a shift in sentiment as speculative long positions begin to unwind.
Market Pullback Deepens as September Weakness Returns
According to data shared on X by analyst Maartunn, the sharp increase in taker sell volume is a reflection of the intensifying pressure on Ethereum’s order books, which may have triggered a breakdown of important technical supports.
Research firm Matrixport highlighted in its daily market update that trading volumes have halved from $122 billion to $57 billion in recent days, while funding rates fell below 10, suggesting that appetite for leveraged long exposure is fading.
Consider also that September has historically been a soft month for the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency. It is why market analyst Benjamin Cowen argued on Monday that ETH could retrace to its 21-week exponential moving average near $3,500, repeating patterns seen in previous Septembers.
There have been similar corrections in past cycles, like in 2017, when ETH dropped more than 21 that month. Also, in 2021, it recorded a 12.5 loss before recovering to new highs later in the year.
Despite the current pullback, whales and institutions remain active. A recent report by Arkham Intelligence revealed that a Bitcoin whale converted $1 billion worth of the asset into ETH and staked it.
Additional data also shows that spot ETFs absorbed more Ethereum in August than was issued on-chain, leading analysts like Anthony Sassano to suggest that long-term structural demand from ETFs, treasuries, and tokenization projects may underpin the asset’s outlook even with short-term turbulence persisting.
Price Action and Technical Outlook
Looking at the market, at the time of this writing, Ethereum was trading at $4,387, down 1 in the last 24 hours and about 0.6 over the week, according to CoinGecko. The cryptocurrency may have lost some momentum since posting a new all-time high (ATH) of $4,946 on August 24, but it is still outperforming the broader crypto market, which fell 1.8 over the week.
Things are rosier across longer time frames, with ETH up 27 on the monthly chart, while being 79 higher compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, technical charts show it consolidating around the $4,200–$4,400 range, a zone identified as key support by multiple analysts.
Even in CryptoPotato’s latest assessment, it was noted that a decisive break below $4,200 could accelerate a slide toward $3,800. However, a rebound and reclaim of $4,600 would likely restore bullish momentum and open the door to retesting the ATH level.
