Ethereum’s Ether has lost 10% of its value in the last seven days, making it the second worst performer among the top 10, behind Dogecoin.
The bearish performance saw Ether drop below $3k, with technical indicators suggesting further bearish movements in the near term.
Ether’s funding rates flip negative
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Ether has dropped below $3k after losing 10% of its value over the past few days. However, the price decline hasn’t affected Ether’s open interest (OI), which jumped from 12.64M ETH to 13.30M ETH over the past 24 hours.
The increase in OI indicates new money is flowing into the market, increasing leverage.
However, the capital increase may not necessarily be chasing long positions as Ether’s funding rates flipped negative over the past few days.
Ether’s funding rates now stand at -0.003%, indicating that short traders are currently in control of the market.
A surge in OI accompanied by a decline in funding rates indicates that new capital is flowing toward short positioning.
The metric comes as long positions on Ethereum are facing intense pressure.
Since the start of the week, long liquidations have exceeded above $610 million, the largest three-day stretch since November 21.
In the same vein, US spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded net outflows of nearly $230 million on Tuesday.
While Ether’s price has declined in recent days, whales continue to accumulate more coins.
On-chain data reveals that a popular on-chain Ethereum whale “Trend Research,” which is known for using leveraged borrowing to stack ETH, withdrew 24,555 ETH from Binance earlier this week and now holds 651,300 ETH.
In addition to that, the Ethereum treasury firm BitMine added 35,628 ETH to its stash while staking an additional 581,920 ETH last week. The firm holds a total of 4.2 million ETH.
ETH could dip below $2,700 if the bearish trend persists
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The ETH/USD pair is currently bearish after Ether lost 10% of its value since the start of the week.
Ether is currently testing the $2,880 support level after declining below the $3,057 support level earlier this week.
A dip below $2,880 could push ETH toward $2,627, a level that served as support during the November dump.
An extended bearish condition could see the $2,400 support level come into play in the near to medium term.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the 4-hour chart reads 37, indicating that Ether is entering the oversold territory.
The ongoing trade tension between the United States and the European Union continues to put pressure on Ether and the broader cryptocurrency market.
However, if the bulls recover, ETH could rally towards the $3,244 resistance level over the next few hours.
An extended bullish run would allow ETH to reclaim its weekly high of $3,398.
