Ethereum has experienced a decline of approximately 20% in the last 24 hours, dipping below the $1,500 mark for the first time since March 2023.
At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) is valued at $1,476 after peaking at $1,799 within the last day. The broader market downturn seems to be linked to rising macroeconomic concerns, notably as new tariffs imposed by Donald Trump exert pressure on the cryptocurrency sector. This downtrend has triggered significant losses throughout the market, primarily driven by the sharp drop in ETH prices.
Data from Coinglass indicates that more than $400 million worth of Ethereum positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with long positions alone accounting for around $341 million of that loss. As traders exited their positions, open interest in Ethereum futures saw a decline of 15%.
One prominent investor faced particularly severe repercussions. A whale, who had secured a substantial loan through the decentralized finance platform Sky (previously Maker), lost 67,570 ETH, equating to over $100 million, according to a recent post on social media. The loan was secured by ETH, and as the price fell, the system automatically liquidated the collateral to fulfill the debt obligation.
Aside from the latest downturn, Ethereum has endured a challenging few months. It wrapped up the first quarter of the year down 45%, resulting in a loss of around $170 billion in total market capitalization. This made Q1 2025 the third worst quarter for Ethereum since 2016. Despite leading the decentralized exchange trading volume in March, the network’s fee revenues significantly plummeted from $142 million in January to only $21 million in March, according to data from DefiLlama.
The recent March 2024 EIP-1559 update, also known as the Dencun upgrade, contributed to lower transaction fees, yet Ethereum has reverted to an inflationary state. A key deflationary metric, the ETH burn rate, has now reached its lowest point since August 2021.
Analysts are adopting a more cautious stance on ETH following a largely positive view throughout 2024. In March, analysts at Standard Chartered revised their year-end price forecast for Ethereum down from $10,000 to $4,000, citing increasing competition from Ethereum layer-2 solutions.
These rollup solutions continue to attract users away from the primary chain by offering enhanced speed and reduced costs. While the forthcoming Pectra upgrade is expected to bolster the network’s fundamentals, ongoing macroeconomic pressures are likely to impact Ethereum’s pricing.