Whales short the dip, 73% of traders say "hold my leverage" 🐋

Ethereum traded at $1,736 at press time, up 0.08% over 24 hours, consolidating for a fourth straight day near the $1,700 mark. Despite the muted price action, large holders continued building bearish positions, with on-chain data showing a notable increase in leveraged short exposure.

According to Onchain Lens, the wallet "pension-usdt.eth" expanded its 3x leveraged ETH short to 50,000 ETH, valued at $85.28 million, with more than $1.43 million in unrealized profit already booked. A separate whale opened a 23,000 ETH short with 20x leverage worth $39.64 million before closing it for a realized gain of roughly $125,000.

The cluster of bearish bets faced a sharp counterweight. CoinGlass data showed $22 million in short liquidations over the period, indicating the market continued to punish aggressive downside positioning. That pressure coincided with a surge in bullish retail positioning: the ETH Long/Short Ratio climbed to 2.73, with longs accounting for 73% of open positions and shorts 26%.

Technical indicators, however, pointed to neither side holding a clear edge. The negative directional indicator on the Directional Movement Index remained dominant while the ADX hovered near 5, signaling weak momentum across both directions. Broader market structure also remained weak, with derivatives activity rising but still insufficient to drive a sustained breakout.

With ETH compressed between $1,600 and $1,700, analysts identified $1,850 as the next resistance level if derivatives demand strengthens and triggers further short liquidations.