Ethereum rose 29.8% in seven days to reach a weekly high of $2,546, outperforming bitcoin as renewed demand for spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), short-position liquidations and a reduced supply of readily tradable ETH pushed the market sharply higher.
ETH was trading at about $2,435 at 17:00 EDT on Saturday after easing from its intraday peak. The move followed a rapid climb from the mid-$1,800s and low-$1,900s, where Ethereum had spent much of mid-August in a narrow trading range. Ethereum’s share of the overall cryptocurrency market, known as dominance, was approaching 11%.
The latest advance accelerated on 19 August, when ETH gained about 17.5%, opening near $1,917 before closing above $2,250. Buying continued in the following sessions, taking the price to $2,546.78 on Binance. Daily trading volumes repeatedly reached between $25bn and $33bn during the rally.
Bitcoin also recorded a strong rise and was trading at about $77,300 at 17:00 EDT on Saturday. Ethereum, however, advanced more quickly over the week, improving its performance relative to bitcoin.
That suggests investors were not simply buying cryptocurrencies across the market. Some capital was moving specifically towards Ethereum, the blockchain used by many stablecoins, tokenised assets and decentralised finance (DeFi) applications.
ETF demand and falling exchange balances
Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded about $697m in net inflows during the week, according to the latest SoSoValue data. The funds attracted approximately $189m on 19 August, $221m on 20 August and $185m on 21 August. It was their strongest three-day period since October 2025.
BlackRock’s ETHA received much of that money, while Grayscale Mini ETH and Fidelity’s FETH also recorded buying. Total assets under management in spot ether ETFs rose towards $14.3bn, equivalent to about 4.85% of Ethereum’s market capitalisation. Cumulative inflows since the funds launched were close to $12.2bn.
The rally also took place as the amount of ETH held on exchanges fell. Exchange balances dropped by about 15% between early June and mid-August, declining from roughly 7.7 million ETH to 6.54 million ETH.
A further 42 million ETH, or about 33.7% of the total supply, is locked in staking. Staking involves committing ETH to help operate and secure the Ethereum network in return for potential rewards.
Staked coins and ETH withdrawn from exchanges are not necessarily unavailable to sellers. However, they reduce the amount immediately accessible to traders, meaning a surge in demand can produce a more pronounced rise in price.
Futures markets have also remained heavily involved. Ethereum futures open interest – the total value of active futures contracts – stood at $31.81bn, representing 13.06 million ETH, according to figures collected from CoinGlass.
Binance accounted for the largest share at $8.77bn, followed by CME with $3.29bn, Gate with $2.55bn and Bybit with $2.21bn.
Open interest increased by 0.13% over the previous hour and 0.35% over four hours, although it was down 1.60% over 24 hours. The figures indicate that fresh positions were still being added after the earlier rally forced some traders out.
Futures can amplify gains and losses because traders often use borrowed money to increase their exposure.
Leveraged traders hit by sharp price move
Ethereum accounted for $264.92m of the $1.21bn in cryptocurrency liquidations recorded over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data.
Across the wider market, 234,707 derivatives traders were liquidated. Long positions accounted for $727.13m of the losses, while short positions represented $481.62m. Ethereum derivatives recorded the largest individual losses on the day.
A liquidation happens when an exchange automatically closes a leveraged trade after losses exhaust the trader’s collateral. Ethereum’s large share of the total showed how quickly derivatives markets had repriced during the advance.
Earlier short covering helped accelerate the rally, but the latest figures also showed that highly leveraged traders on both sides of the market remained exposed to sudden reversals.
Ethereum options offered a broadly positive signal among positions that were still open. Calls made up 58.41% of open interest, equivalent to 1.60 million ETH, while puts accounted for 41.59%, or 1.14 million ETH, on Saturday afternoon.
Recent trading activity was more cautious. Puts represented 56.09% of 24-hour options volume, compared with 43.91% for calls. That may indicate traders were seeking protection after the sharp rise rather than necessarily making a straightforward bet on falling prices.
Options give buyers the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price.
The largest listed Ethereum options positions included calls at $3,200, $2,200, $2,500, $3,000 and $3,500 on Deribit. The most active contracts were concentrated in shorter-term puts, including a Deribit $2,100 put expiring on 25 September and several Bybit puts expiring on 23 August.
Those positions highlight the market’s focus on whether Ethereum can hold on to the gains made during the week.
Traders watching support levels
Ethereum’s daily relative strength index (RSI) stood between 78 and 88. Readings at those levels are generally viewed as overbought.
The RSI measures the speed and scale of recent price movements. A high reading does not guarantee that a sell-off will follow, but it can signal that a rally has moved quickly enough to encourage profit-taking or a period of sideways trading.
Traders were identifying $2,400 to $2,450 as the first significant support area, with $2,300 seen as the next level. A clear move above the $2,546-$2,550 region could open a path towards $2,600-$2,800.
A fall below $2,300, by contrast, could expose Ethereum to a decline towards $2,150-$2,200.
The cryptocurrency rally coincided with a wider improvement in appetite for risk. The US Treasury doubled its long-duration bond buybacks to $4bn per operation, helping to ease yields and support assets considered sensitive to movements in risk sentiment.
Political developments around the proposed Clarity Act, which would clarify the treatment of digital assets under US law, also helped reduce some regulatory uncertainty.
Those conditions could change quickly. Continued positive ETF flows, sustained demand for crypto assets across broader markets and the ability of Ethereum to defend its new support levels will be important if the rally is to continue.
US spot bitcoin ETFs ended Friday with $307.45m in net inflows, completing five consecutive positive sessions that brought total inflows to $1.92bn.
