Ether holds above $2k amid sustained Middle East geopolitical tensions

The cryptocurrency market has slightly retraced after a positive start to the week.

Bitcoin has dropped below $70,000, while Ether is trading below $2,100 as the market shed 2% of its gains in the last 24 hours. 

However, Ethereum's (ETH) onchain and derivatives data showed investors largely maintained their positions over the past week, despite the volatile market conditions.

The ongoing  Middle East geopolitical tensions continue to affect the broader financial markets, including cryptocurrencies. 

Ethereum whales continue to hold

Ether is down 2% in the last 24 hours and now trades at $2,021 per coin.

The bearish performance comes following a positive start to the week.

However, investors continue to hold their positions despite the market volatility.

On-chain data shows that the balance of wallets holding 10K-100K ETH remained unchanged at 20.81 million ETH. 

Meanwhile, the wallets with a balance of 100-1K and 1K-10K ETH collectively reduced their holdings by 200,000 ETH.

Furthermore, institutional investors have also been showing weakness lately.

Ethereum ETFs recorded three consecutive days of net outflows, eliminating the inflows recorded earlier last week.

Finally, the derivatives data show that retail interest has been steady in recent days.

Ether’s futures Open Interest (OI) reads $26.7 billion. 

While the OI has been steady, the funding rates flipped positive over the past two days after a weekend of sharp negative funding.

The constant flipping between positive and negative funding rates suggests that investors' sentiment remains uncertain and overly cautious.

In an email to Invezz, Nick Forster, Founder at the onchain options platform, Derive.xyz, stated that traders are quietly betting the worst of the crypto sell-off may already be behind us.

“Ethereum derivatives markets show an even stronger tilt toward upside positioning. Nine of the 10 largest ETH option purchases over the past week were calls, with the majority clustered around the $2.5K strike – roughly 25% above current levels. Notably, a sizeable purchase was also recorded at the $4K strike for the September expiry, suggesting some traders are positioning for a far larger rebound later in the year.”

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH fails to take out the $2,108 resistance

The ETH/USD 4H chart remains bearish and efficient as Ether failed to overcome the $2,108 resistance level.

Ethereum recorded $61.7 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, led by $34.1 million in short liquidations.

Despite the retracement, the near-term bias remains bullish as Ether is still trading above the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $2,020 while remaining well below the 50-day EMA at $2,225.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 54 is above the neutral 50, indicating a fading bullish momentum.

The MACD lines remain above the signal level, suggesting a minor buying pressure. 

If the buying pressure resumes, the bulls will likely retest the $2,108 resistance again.

Breaking above this level would open the way toward $2,388, followed by $2,746 as a more distant cap aligned with the declining 50-day EMA cluster. 

However, if the selloff persists, Ether will likely sweep the $1,741 support level.

An extended bearish run would expose the $1,524 support zone, marking a deeper pullback. 

As long as Ether holds above the 20-day EMA, the bulls will continue to pressure the $2,108 resistance.