Hourly Chart Screams “Sell” as Ethereum Whales Dump 3.8M ETH in 2026

Ethereum (ETH) has dropped by 3.1% in the past 24 hours, pushing the price below $2,000 once again as bearish momentum continues.

Long liquidations spiked to $160 million in the past 12 hours, with ETH accounting for more than half of that amount as the price broke this psychological threshold.

Whales Cut Their Exposure to ETH by 8%

Top wallets holding ETH continue to be in “distribution mode” as on-chain data from Santiment indicates that addresses holding between 10,000 and 1 million tokens have dumped 3.8 million ETH since the year started.

Ethereum Top Wallet Balances – Source: Santiment

The most notable decline is evidenced among wallets holding between 10K and 100K tokens, as their total holdings have dropped from 30.9 million ETH to 28.2 million ETH at the time of writing, meaning an 8.7% decline.

Similarly, wallets holding between 100K and 1 million ETH have reduced their exposure by 7.7% as well in 2026.

Although trading volumes have retreated in the past 24 hours by 30%, the selling pressure continues to be strong as ETH rejected a move above a key resistance at $2,140.

Price Volatility Spikes to Highest Level Since May 2025

In our latest Ethereum price prediction, we shared a potential trading opportunity that emerged as the price started to drop following a retest of this key threshold. Thus far, that setup has yielded positive results, putting ETH on track to hit its nearest support area at around $1,750.

Ethereum 4W Price Volatility – Source: Santiment

Price volatility has spiked to its highest level since May 2025. Back then, the price rose from $1,700 to $2,700 in a relatively short period. Then it spent a few weeks in consolidation before resuming its upward move.

In this case, higher volatility confirms that the selling pressure spiked as ETH dropped from $2,300 to $1,700. We may expect some consolidation ahead, possibly between $1.7K and $2K.

A break below this lower bound could push ETH to retest its April 2025 lows of $1,400. Meanwhile, a move above $2,000 would effectively reverse the token’s downtrend and could potentially mark the end of this bearish cycle.

Hourly Chart Says “Sell” – ETH Eyes Retest of $1.7K

The daily chart confirms a rejection of $2,140. In this higher time frame, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is already emerging from deep oversold levels at 17.

ETH/USDT Daily Chart – Source: TradingView

Even for cryptocurrencies, this is an extreme negative momentum print that reflects the market’s pessimistic attitude.

The last time the daily RSI dropped to such low levels, ETH recovered from $2,200 to $4,000 in around 4 months.

ETH/USDT Hourly Chart – Source: TradingView

That said, two consecutive sell signals have popped up in the hourly chart. These are setting the stage for the continuation of the current downtrend and confirm our bearish prediction from two days ago.

Our bearish target for the time being sits at $1,700. This could be the definite cycle’s bottom if the RSI’s historical patterns repeat. A double-bottom at this level could mark the beginning of ETH’s recovery.