Ether Slips Below $1,900 as Leverage Exits, ETFs Keep Buying

Ether fell below $1,900 on Friday, dropping more than 2% as retail traders pulled back and leveraged positions came off. The move split the market in two. Speculators are stepping away. Institutions are not.

Leverage comes off

Futures open interest tells the story. It touched $29 billion earlier this week, the highest reading since June 7, then slipped 1.3% over the past 24 hours to $27.3 billion. Funding rates followed. Positive for most of July, perpetual funding weakened this week and briefly flipped negative Thursday for the first time since late June. When funding goes negative, shorts are paying longs. That is bearish positioning, and it drains the fuel that powers sharp rallies.

Institutions keep buying

US spot Ethereum ETFs took in $14.9 million on Thursday, per CoinGlass, a fourth straight day of net inflows. The steady bid matters more given where domestic demand sits. The Coinbase Premium Index, which tracks the price gap between Coinbase and other major venues, has stayed below zero for nearly three months. A negative premium points to soft buying from US spot investors. Analysts read a sustained move back above zero as the signal that broad bullish sentiment has returned. It hasn't happened yet.

The line at $1,937

On the four-hour chart, ETH still holds above its 20-day EMA at $1,837 and its 50-day EMA at $1,829, the near-term floor. The ceiling is the 100-day EMA near $1,937, which has capped every recovery attempt lately. RSI sits around 55, steady without tipping into overbought, while MACD stays positive but fading. A daily close above the 100-day EMA would open a path toward $2,108. Lose the moving-average support and the next stop is $1,741, with structural support at $1,524 as the line bulls cannot afford to give up.