Ethereum fell more than 2% in 24 hours, slipping below $3,000 after losing its $2,900 support level. This drop triggered widespread liquidations, with around $500 million of long positions disappearing. The data shows that $79 million of the $106 million in liquidated ETH-focused contracts were long bets.
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Trading activity increased sharply during this decline, with daily volume increasing 200% to $33.2 billion. The broader crypto market also contracted, falling nearly 1.2% and erasing an estimated $1.1 trillion in value in a matter of hours. Bitcoin, SOL, XRP and DOGE followed similar downward movements.
Despite the volatility, some companies have been accumulating ETH during the recession. BitMine Immersion Technologies increased its holdings by 96,798 ETH, deviating from the trend of companies reducing their risk exposure.
ETH's price gains some momentum on the daily chart. Source: ETHUSD on Tradingview
Fusaka upgrade launched, aiming to improve scalability
On December 3, Ethereum is expected to activate its Fusaka upgrade, the network’s second major update for 2025. The upgrade aligns changes to the execution and consensus layers, introducing features aimed at improving Layer 2 and reducing costs.
A key component is PeerDAS, a data sampling mechanism designed to reduce the bandwidth validators need to verify Layer 2 data. This system aims to reduce validator bandwidth requirements by up to 85% and increase blob data capacity, potentially reducing Layer 2 transaction fees by 40-60%.
Fusaka also increases Ethereum’s block gas limit to 60 million, allowing more transactions per block, and introduces updates to the Ethereum Virtual Machine that streamline the execution of smart contracts. These combined changes are expected to improve the network’s transaction capacity.
Industry interest had been growing before the upgrade. Major financial players including Amundi and Fidelity have recently announced their transition to tokenized products built on Ethereum, reflecting broader institutional activity across the network.
Can Ethereum (ETH) recover from oversold levels?
Ethereum (ETH) last traded at around $2,807 with technical indicators indicating continued bearish momentum. The MACD remains in negative territory, while the Relative Strength Index sits at 32, signaling oversold conditions.
The main support levels lie at $2,700 and $2,500. Failure to hold these areas could worsen the downtrend, while a rebound could take ETH back to between $2,900 and $3,000. Open interest rose 4.3% after the decline, suggesting traders are reopening their positions and preparing for higher volatility.
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It remains unclear whether the Fusaka upgrade can change market sentiment, but its long-term impact could play a role in Ethereum’s broader recovery.
Cover image from ChatGPT, ETHUSD chart from Tradingview
