Ethereum saw significant upside volatility, reaching a three-week high of $2.4k before retracing. At press time, ETH was trading at $2,314, down 2.35% on the daily charts, marking a change in near-term momentum.
With increased price volatility, profit and loss margins have widened significantly for futures market participants.
Why Did THIS ETH Whale Take Profits?
With the recent market rally, whales who took long positions during the decline have seen their positions become very profitable.
According to Onchain Lens, two wallets belonging to a single Matrixport entity have fully closed 95,000 long ETH positions. After the trade, the whale made a profit of $41.4 million.
Now the whale holds a long position of 25,000 ETH (20x) in a single wallet, with a floating profit of $8.1 million. Such a decision to exit the market suggests that the whale may view the upside as limited, with the rally providing a favorable exit point.
What happened after the withdrawal?
However, even though profits from long positions increased significantly, the price pullback also triggered increased liquidation.
According to CoinGlass data, $38.98 million in long positions were liquidated, while more short positions were liquidated. Thus, the liquidation of short positions exceeded $54.4 million.
Despite increasing liquidations on both positions, traders continued to deploy massive capital. Over the past 24 hours, $15.61 billion was invested in futures positions, compared to $15.13 billion in outflows.
As a result, net futures flows jumped to $476 million, a clear sign of aggressive futures positioning as traders rushed to take a short or long position.
Can ETH’s Momentum Hold?
Ethereum (ETH) has seen increased volatility, largely due to derivatives activity. The derivatives market has seen an increase in realized profits and liquidations, reflecting the risks associated with leveraged moves.
Despite this change, ETH maintained its upward strength. Looking at MACD and SMA, the altcoin continued to hold above the short-term moving averages.
At the same time, the altcoin’s stochastic RSI formed a bullish crossover, rising to 85 and extending further into overbought territory. These conditions suggest strong demand in the near term, although dynamics appear tense.
If demand maintains, ETH could attempt to reclaim the $2,400 resistance and target $2,900. However, if the latest bullish attempt fails, Ethereum could move back towards short-term support near $2,133.
Final Summary
- A Matrixport-related whale closed 95,000 long ETH, locking in around $41.4 million during the recent rally.
- The same entity still holds a long position of 25,000 ETH, suggesting partial confidence in continued upside.
