Ethereum stays below $2,400 as geopolitical tensions trigger long liquidations

The broader crypto market dropped about 2%, while total liquidations reached approximately $423 million over the same period.

The selloff followed President Donald Trump’s rejection of negotiations with Tehran on Wednesday.

Further Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia also intensified concerns about regional supply disruptions.

Brent crude climbed 4% to $114 a barrel. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell 2.6% as worries about AI spending outweighed improved third-quarter technology earnings.

Investors also moved into government bonds, pushing the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield below 5%, its lowest level in nearly a month.

Exchange reserves decline despite price weakness

Ethereum’s onchain data offered a more constructive signal beneath the market decline.

CryptoQuant data showed exchange reserves falling by approximately 170,000 $ETH over 48 hours to 14.882 million $ETH.

The decline suggests fewer coins were held in tracked exchange wallets.

Transfers into self-custody could reduce readily available selling supply, although exchange withdrawals alone do not establish that investors are buying or holding for the long term.

Lookonchain separately identified several large wallets accumulating $ETH during the previous 24 hours, indicating that some holders were adding exposure as prices weakened.

One wallet highlighted by Lookonchain sold 246.25 $BTC, valued at approximately $20.64 million, to purchase 8,286 $ETH on Thursday.

Over the preceding 11 days, the same wallet sold a total of 1,917.7 $BTC and acquired 64,545 $ETH, according to the tracker.

The transactions show a substantial shift from Bitcoin into Ethereum by that wallet.

However, the activity represents one holder’s allocation decisions and does not establish a broader market rotation.

The purchases nevertheless contrast with the liquidation-driven selling that dominated Ethereum’s latest decline.

Ethereum technical forecast: $ETH approaches the $2,355 support

The $ETH/USD daily chart has been consolidating between two key levels in recent days.

Ethereum’s daily chart weakened after buyers failed to maintain price above the convergence of the 20-day and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages.

Those short-term averages have repeatedly capped recovery attempts over the past week, keeping the near-term outlook bearish.

Attention now turns to the 100-day EMA and the nearby $2,355 horizontal support.

That area has held through repeated tests over the past eight days.

A sustained break below the support zone would bring $2,204 into focus, followed by the deeper base near $2,026.

For a recovery to gain traction, $ETH would need to close above its short-term EMAs and subsequently hold them as support.

If the bulls push price above the $2,491 resistance level, Ethereum could extend its rally and hit the next major hurdle at $2,571.

An extended bullish scenario would bring the $2,773 resistance into play for the first time since October 2nd.

Momentum indicators continue to favor sellers. The 14-day Relative Strength Index sits near 40, while the Stochastic Oscillator is around 26.

Both are declining, suggesting weakening momentum as Ethereum approaches another test of its technical floor.