On February 24, 2026, from 05:15 to 05:30 (UTC), ETH experienced a significant plunge, with a 15-minute candlestick return of -1.09%. The price dropped from around $1,819, indicating increased market volatility and heightened investor attention to short-term performance of cryptocurrencies. Mainstream coins moved downward in unison, with trading volume expanding to $2.176 billion over 24 hours, and short-term trading activity becoming more active.
The primary drivers of this movement were whale repositioning and leveraged trading behaviors. On-chain data shows that whale accounts like “pension-usdt.eth” heavily shorted ETH with high leverage, opening positions at an average price significantly above the current market price, which led to unrealized losses and triggered stop-losses and liquidations. The short-term selling pressure from whale liquidations caused ETH prices to fall rapidly. Meanwhile, the inflow of funds into US Ethereum spot ETFs slowed down, prompting some investors to take profits, and short-term capital withdrawals increased market pressure.
Additionally, macro risks amplified the volatility. Bitcoin (BTC) declined by -0.61% in the same window. The entire mainstream crypto market was affected by geopolitical tensions and rising demand for gold as a safe haven, leading to a continued decrease in risk appetite. Liquidations and stop-loss actions from both long and short positions with high leverage, along with real-time social media updates on whale activities and ETF fund movements, intensified emotional reactions. Large on-chain fund flows and the correlated decline of major coins jointly pushed up ETH’s short-term volatility.
Short-term market risks remain. Although ETH’s on-chain ecosystem growth remains steady, current volatility is high. High leverage trading, whale activities, and ETF fund flows could trigger secondary fluctuations. Investors should closely monitor key support levels, large on-chain transfers, ETF net inflows, Federal Reserve policies, and global safe-haven capital flows. It is important to manage positions and stop-loss strategies carefully, stay updated on market developments, and be prepared for sudden short-term risks.
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