Ethereum jumped 29.8% over the past week to a high of $2,546, outpacing bitcoin's 22.9% gain as returning ETF buyers, a short squeeze, and shrinking exchange supply pushed the rally. The surge also triggered $264.92 million in ETH liquidations, and traders now watch whether the $2,400 support zone holds.
Ethereum outran the rest of the crypto market this week, surging 29.8% in seven days to a high of $2,546 on Saturday afternoon. That beat bitcoin's 22.9% gain over the same stretch. By 5 p.m. EDT Saturday, ETH had cooled to around $2,435, and its share of the broader crypto market climbed toward 11%.
Ethereum breaks out of its August range
The move accelerated on Aug. 19, when ETH jumped about 17.5%, opening near $1,917 and closing above $2,250. Buyers then kept pressing, driving the price as high as $2,546.78 on Binance while daily trading volume repeatedly hit $25 billion to $33 billion during the run. Bitcoin also ripped higher, trading around $77,300 at the same hour, but ethereum moved faster and strengthened against it — a sign capital was rotating into the network behind stablecoins, tokenized assets and decentralized finance applications, not just spreading across crypto broadly.
ETF buyers pile back in
Spot ethereum ETFs pulled in about $697 million in net inflows for the week, their hottest stretch since October 2025. The products attracted roughly $189 million on Aug. 19, $221 million on Aug. 20 and $185 million on Aug. 21. BlackRock's ETHA absorbed much of that demand, while Grayscale Mini ETH and Fidelity's FETH also drew ETF buyers. Total assets under management in spot Ethereum ETFs climbed toward $14.3 billion, about 4.85% of ETH's market capitalization.
Supply is tightening at the same time. Exchange-held ether dropped about 15% from early June to mid-August, falling from roughly 7.7 million ETH to 6.54 million ETH. More than 42 million ETH is now staked, leaving less coin readily available to sell. That shrinking float can turn aggressive buying into sharper price moves.
Leveraged traders get squeezed
Futures traders added fuel, pushing open interest sharply higher. Ethereum open interest stood at $31.81 billion, or 13.06 million ETH, with Binance holding the largest chunk at $8.77 billion.
That surge triggered a wave of liquidations across the market. ETH accounted for $264.92 million of the $1.21 billion in crypto liquidations recorded over 24 hours, the largest share of any asset. Options positioning still leans bullish overall, with calls at 58.41% of open interest against 41.59% for puts, though puts made up 56.09% of the past day's trading volume.
What traders are watching next
Daily RSI readings of 78 to 88 sit in overbought territory, a level that often invites profit-taking or consolidation rather than an immediate reversal. Traders are eyeing $2,400 to $2,450 as the first support zone, then $2,300; a break above $2,546 to $2,550 would open the door toward $2,600 to $2,800, while a slide below $2,300 could expose $2,150 to $2,200.
The rally also caught a tailwind from policy: the U.S. Treasury doubled long-duration bond buybacks to $4 billion per operation, cooling yields. Those tailwinds can fade fast — ETF flows need to stay positive, and ethereum still has to defend its newly established support.
Source: Bitcoin News
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