ETH outruns BTC as $1,800 falls, shorts get squeezed, and one whale just bought the dip 🐳

Ethereum climbed 2.75% on the 15th of June, extending gains for a second consecutive day to trade at $1,720 at press time, with 24-hour volume surging more than 65% to $4.95 billion. The advance followed reports of a U.S.-Iran peace deal and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which lifted sentiment across crypto markets. A separate source noted ETH had rallied 4.07% earlier in the session, reclaiming $1,800 and posting its strongest single-day gain in two weeks, while gaining 3.16% on the 15th of June to outperform Bitcoin during the risk-on move.

Derivatives data showed positioning picked up alongside the price action. According to CryptoQuant, Ethereum open interest jumped 7.7%, marking its largest daily increase in a month, while ETH's Long/Short Ratio climbed to 1.0358, indicating a slight advantage for bullish positions. Liquidation clusters concentrated at $1,684.1, where traders had built $457.28 million in long positions, and at $1,738.1, where shorts totaled $193.54 million. The move higher came shortly after trader Ansem opened an Ethereum short targeting $888, a bet that drew attention across crypto markets and was quickly undone by ETH's subsequent rally.

Whale and institutional flows pointed in opposite directions. On-chain tracker Lookonchain reported that BitMine bought 76,881 ETH worth roughly $135.6 million last week, bringing its total holdings to 5.62 million ETH valued at nearly $9.9 billion, with an average acquisition cost around $3,450 per ETH. Separately, a transaction tracker reported on X that an Ethereum ICO whale borrowed 10 million USDe from Aave and purchased 5,817 ETH at an average price of $1,719. CryptoQuant data, however, showed Exchange Reserves increased by 76,000 ETH over the past week, a pattern typically associated with rising selling pressure, while CoinGlass Spot Inflow/Outflow data showed roughly $21.72 million worth of ETH left exchanges over the past 24 hours.

Technically, Ethereum broke above the $1,720 resistance level that had capped price advances since the 7th of June and closed a daily candle above it, with the Average Directional Index (ADX) standing at 48.06, above the 25 threshold that typically signals a strong trend. ETH continued to trade below its 200-day Exponential Moving Average, a sign that long-term sellers still held control of the broader trend. If ETH holds above $1,720, the next level on watch is $1,820, while a move below $1,700 could weaken the current structure and invite fresh selling pressure.