Key Takeaways
- Ethereum declined more than 10% over the past week, sliding to approximately $2,110, experiencing greater losses than most leading cryptocurrencies.
- Surging US Treasury yields and inflation metrics sparked widespread cryptocurrency sell-offs, with the 30-year US yield reaching 5.19%, a level unseen since 2007.
- ETH witnessed over $700 million in liquidations of long positions throughout the past week.
- Medium-sized wallets offloaded a total of 386,000 ETH from May 11 through May 18, while whale buying momentum also showed signs of weakening.
- Technical analyst Crypto Patel pinpointed $1,500 as a potential downside objective following ETH’s breakdown beneath a critical trendline at $2,170.
Ethereum currently trades near $2,110, showing modest recovery following a week dominated by intense selling activity. The asset posted approximately 0.5% gains on Tuesday, though the overall technical structure remains fragile.
The downturn wasn’t confined to ETH alone. A dramatic surge in US Treasury yields drained liquidity from risk-on assets throughout financial markets. The 30-year US Treasury yield surged to 5.19%, marking its peak since 2007. Meanwhile, Japan’s 10-year government bond yield reached an unprecedented 2.81%. Rising yields typically prompt investors to rotate into safer, yield-bearing instruments, creating headwinds for digital assets.
Nevertheless, ETH absorbed more damage than its peers. Data from Coinglass reveals that Ethereum experienced over $700 million in long position liquidations throughout the past week, surpassing Bitcoin’s corresponding liquidation figures during the identical timeframe. Derivatives metrics had already signaled an impending long squeeze before the price collapse materialized.
Onchain Metrics Reveal Persistent Selling Pressure
Blockchain analytics from CryptoQuant demonstrate that addresses containing between 100 and 10,000 ETH distributed a cumulative 386,000 ETH from May 11 through May 18. This selling pattern has remained consistent across recent months.
Large holders initially intervened to purchase during the decline, accumulating roughly 330,000 ETH throughout that identical period. Nevertheless, they subsequently reduced their positions by 60,000 ETH in the days that followed, indicating diminishing confidence at prevailing price points.
Crypto analyst Ali Charts highlighted a troubling development on social platforms: approximately 60 whale addresses controlling 10,000 ETH or more have either liquidated entirely or consolidated their positions over the preceding two months. He emphasized this coincides with substantial exchange deposits and characterized the trajectory of least resistance as “downward,” while monitoring the $2,000 threshold attentively.
Technical Indicators Signal Continued Weakness
On the daily timeframe, Ethereum remains positioned beneath its 20-, 50-, and 100-day exponential moving averages, which cluster between $2,245 and $2,333. The RSI hovers near 34 while the Stochastic Oscillator registers around 12, both indicating persistent bearish momentum without definitive reversal patterns.
Technical analyst Crypto Patel observed via social channels that ETH violated a significant ascending trendline at $2,170, transforming the market structure bearish. He established a downside objective of $1,500 with an invalidation threshold at $2,327.
On shorter timeframes, ETH appears to be developing a descending trend line with resistance positioned near $2,120. Failure to breach $2,150 might trigger a retest of $2,075, with $2,000 representing the subsequent significant support zone beneath current levels.
Critical resistance overhead remains at $2,120, followed by $2,150, and $2,200. Immediate support zones include $2,085 and $2,075. A decisive move below those thresholds could leave the $2,000 psychological barrier exposed.
As of May 20, ETH trades marginally above $2,108, with both technical patterns and blockchain metrics suggesting caution remains warranted for the immediate future.
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