Ethereum faces key $2.8K resistance – Can ETH bulls push through?

• Ethereum maintained its bearish market construction.
• Liquidation ranges indicated a possible worth bounce to $2,880.

Ethereum [ETH] has fallen under the $2.8k zone, which had beforehand acted as a stern resistance from August to November 2024.

It was discouraging for buyers to see ETH, and a lot of the altcoin market, lose most of their features in November.

Supply: ETH/USDT on TradingView

Technically, the 61.8% and 78.6% Fibonacci retracement ranges continued to behave as assist. But, the each day market construction was bearish, and shopping for stress has halted.

A mixture of metrics and the liquidation heatmap gave clues concerning the subsequent transfer.

The estimated leverage ratio and a possible ETH liquidity hunt

Supply: CryptoQuant

The estimated leverage ratio (ELR) is calculated by dividing the trade’s Open Curiosity by its coin reserve.

The ELR can also be a measure of speculative sentiment- the next ELR implies individuals are prepared to imagine extra dangers and usually signifies bullish situations or expectations.

The swift worth drop in early February halted the ELR’s uptrend, however the metric has bounced increased since then.

Supply: CryptoQuant

Over the previous few days, Open Curiosity additionally noticed an increase, going from $13.3 billion to $14.2 billion. This got here alongside a worth bounce from $2.5k to $2.7k.

Supply: CryptoQuant

The previous two weeks additionally noticed a big flurry of ETH motion out of exchanges. This can be a bullish signal and usually reveals accumulation however doesn’t assure a worth pattern reversal by itself.

It have to be remembered that ELR is OI divided by the reserve- an elevated OI and decreased coin reserve will push the ELR increased.

Therefore, the ELR’s inference relating to speculative expectations have to be tempered. It doesn’t negate the conclusion of short-term bullish expectations primarily based on the OI in addition to the ELR.

Supply: Coinglass

With this in thoughts, the liquidation heatmap provided one other clue. There was a big pocket of liquidity across the $2.8k stage. It prolonged from $2,800 to $2,880, marking it as a key short-term magnetic zone.

Past that, the $3.5k was the subsequent goal, which was a lot additional away.

Due to this fact, market individuals have to be cautious of a fast worth transfer increased.

Ethereum’s breakout previous $2.8k, because it was a serious resistance previously, would possible spark enthusiasm and elevated leverage buying and selling, however a transfer to $2,880 may become a bull entice earlier than a bearish reversal happens.