Ethereum (ETH) has broken through the $3,000 level again after US President Donald Trump canceled an increase in import tariffs on several European countries.
At 3 pm this afternoon, the price of Ethereum opened at $3,016.20, up 0.04% since it opened in early trading on Thursday in the Asian session.
The price of Ethereum has undergone a three-day correction of 13.8%, thus retesting the $2,900 support level on Wednesday for the first time in four weeks.
This move follows a sharp drop in the overall cryptocurrency market as traders began to take a cautious approach to risk, following the worsening global socio-economic situation.
However, despite this surge, the market is still not completely confident.
The most interesting signal came when ETH's funding rate turned negative, a situation that is often considered a buying opportunity.
This means that traders who opened short positions are willing to pay to stay in the market. But this time, the situation is not that simple.
In just two days, nearly $480 million in ETH bullish positions were liquidated, indicating that many investors made the wrong move.
At the same time, the Ethereum spot ETF in the US recorded an outflow of $230 million, a sign of fading institutional interest even though total holdings still reach over $17 billion.
The derivatives market also showed clear fear.
Options data revealed that traders were willing to pay a high premium for protection if the price of ETH fell, with a skew of 11%, the highest in seven weeks. This reflects concerns after ETH repeatedly failed to break through the $3,400 level.
From a fundamental perspective, the pressure is becoming more pronounced.
Ethereum network fees fell 20%, while competitors such as Solana and BNB Chain continued to steal the spotlight with increased activity and transactions.
While negative funding rates are often considered a bullish signal, the current reality shows that investors are still defensive.
As long as leverage interest remains weak and network usage does not recover, ETH’s path to a strong rally in the near term remains unclear.
