Liquidation wave hits ETH
Ethereum took a heavy hit on Nov. 8 and 9. Roughly $432.34 million in leveraged positions were liquidated. ETH slid from $2,236 to $2,060 over that stretch. That was the largest liquidation wave for Ethereum since Aug. 19, when $1.02 billion in short positions were wiped out in a single day. At the time of writing, ETH traded just above $2.1k. Traders are now watching the $2,000 level. It is a round number, and it may act as a psychological support. If it breaks, the next selling wave could arrive quickly. But a bounce there is also possible. This is not a clean setup.
Open interest falls sharply
Open interest has also drawn attention. The 30-day rolling Ethereum Open Interest Z-Score dropped to -2.87. Crypto analyst Arab Chain, using Binance data, noted the sharp decline. Open interest stood at $5.236 billion. The 30-day average was $5.850 billion, with a standard deviation of $213.77 million. So the current level was about 2.87 standard deviations below the mean. Persistent selling pressure has pushed ETH toward $2,100. Falling OI and weaker prices can reflect closed positions, either through liquidations or manual exits. As the analyst noted, it does not necessarily mean large short positions were opened. I think that distinction matters. The move may be about deleveraging rather than fresh bearish bets.
Price structure stays bearish
The price structure turned bearish after ETH lost the swing point at $2,358. The $2,400 area was retested as resistance, and price reacted lower from there in November. The OBV was fairly flat over the past ten days. Still, it has been declining slowly since early October. The MACD was also pointing lower and showed strong bearish momentum at the time of writing. The $2,000 round-number support is one level to watch. Below that, the $1,840 to $1,950 area is the demand zone where ETH consolidated in July and August. Investors may wait for a bullish reaction there. For now, the market is fragile. A break below $2,000 would put more pressure on ETH, but a hold could give buyers a short-term pause. Vitalik Buterin also argued that Ethereum as a store of value makes more sense to focus on than ETH as a fee-burning token. That debate is separate from the chart, but it adds context to how holders view the asset.
