Ethereum has been consolidating in a tight price range for several months, trading between $3,200 and $3,500. Despite the recent bullish movement in the broader market, ETH is still struggling to break out of this range.
This stagnation comes after a prolonged decline from its all-time high of $4,800, recorded in late 2021. The cryptocurrency is now down around 32% from that peak.
Notably, even the appointment of a new pro-crypto administration and a renewed sense of regulatory clarity have done little to propel Ethereum beyond its current resistance levels.
In these market conditions, ShayanBTC, a contributor to CryptoQuant’s QuickTake platform, highlighted a critical metric that could signal an imminent ETH price move.
High Leverage Ratios in Ethereum and Its Implications
According to Shayan, in a recent analysis uploaded to the CryptoQuant QuickTake platform, Ethereum’s estimated leverage ratio, a measure of the average leverage used by futures market participants, has been increasing steadily so far. .
This increase reported by Shayan reflects an increased willingness of traders to take risks, even if the price of Ethereum remains stuck in consolidation. With leverage at high levels, the stage could be set for a significant price move, although its direction remains uncertain. Shayan noted:
The impending breakout of this range, driven by the high debt environment, is expected to trigger a large and impulsive price movement.
Shayan explained that as more traders adopt higher leverage, the market becomes more vulnerable to large price swings. Indeed, if these leveraged positions are liquidated – whether through a short or long squeeze – it could trigger a sudden and significant price adjustment.
The ongoing consolidation around $3,200 to $3,500 has increased interest in the future of Ethereum. The CryptoQuant analyst wrote:
Given the prevailing market sentiment, a bullish breakout seems more likely. However, traders should monitor the leverage ratio closely, as any abrupt changes could lead to unexpected volatility and liquidations.
ETH Market Performance
At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $3,282, down 0.1% in the last 24 hours. Interestingly, despite ETH’s lackluster performance, the asset’s daily trading volume over the past week has been quite positive.
Last Wednesday, ETH trading volume was less than $20 billion, but as of today, Ethereum’s daily trading volume exceeds $24 billion. This is quite an opposite trend, especially when compared to the performance of the ETH market over the same period.
According to Javon Marks, a renowned crypto analyst at
ETH (Ethereum), with a similar performance at the 1.618 Fib level as during the last bull cycle, could see an increase of almost +240% from here to the $11,865.6 levels!
A 5-digit ETH may be on the way and in development, which can help many Altcoins make major runs. . pic.twitter.com/eJT1Fu986b
-JAVONBRANDS (@JavonTM1) December 29, 2024
Featured image created with DALL-E, chart from TradingView