Ether falls after $3.4K peak as derivatives and activity metrics signal caution

Ether (ETH) briefly reached $3,400 before suffering a two-day, 4% correction that took it to about $3,280 and triggered roughly $65 million in liquidations of leveraged long ETH futures, according to the report. Professional traders have remained neutral-to-bearish in derivatives markets despite the recent high.

Monthly ETH futures traded at an annualized 4% premium to spot markets on Friday, a level the outlet said is below the 5% threshold typically deemed bearish. On options, puts traded at a 6% premium relative to calls, which the source described as a neutral-to-bearish signal. The article also noted that total crypto market capitalization has fallen about 28% since Oct.

6, 2025, a decline that closely matches Ether’s move lower. Weak decentralized application demand and falling network fees have weighed on sentiment. While Ethereum base-layer transactions rose 28% over 30 days, standardized average network fees fell 31%, and Ethereum’s largest scaling solution, Base, saw a 26% decline in transactions.

By comparison, fees on competitors such as Solana and BNB Chain rose by about 20% on average, the outlet reported. The coverage said lower network activity reduces staking returns and investor incentive—about 30% of ETH supply remains locked in staking—and that modest U.S. spot ETF inflows ($123 million since Jan.

Key Topics

Crypto, Ether, Derivatives Markets, Ethereum, Dapps, Network Fees