ETH price is hovering around $4,300, and short positions indicate skepticism about the potential for further price increases. According to data from on-chain analytics platform Glassnode, short-term Ether investors are realizing stronger profits than long-term investors, which may reflect their expectations of a price correction in the near future.
"Short-term investors are realizing more profits, which is driving the current wave," Glassnode said in a post on X on Monday.
Short-term ETH investors are starting to take profits.
According to Glassnode, the actual profit of ETH — measured by the simple moving average over seven days — is currently around $553 million per day, primarily coming from short-term investors. In contrast, long-term investors, meaning those who have held ETH for over 155 days, are not realizing such strong profits, with the current profit realization rate equivalent to December 2024.
Realized profits remain approximately 39% lower than last month's peak when ETH traded near $3,500. In this context, ETH has risen 43% in the past 30 days, now trading at $4,301.
Although the price of ETH is currently about 12.7% lower than its all-time high of $4,828 in November 2021, there are many signs that investors are showing hesitation about returning to this price level in the near future. Data from CoinGlass indicates that about $2.23 billion in positions could be liquidated if the price approaches $4,700.
Market sentiment and institutional interest
This hesitation may stem from market sentiment earlier this year, particularly after ETH dropped below $2,000 in March. Many attempts to rally have failed before the current surge, leaving many traders surprised.
On Saturday, Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and Bitcoin billionaire, announced that he had repurchased ETH just a week after selling $10.5 million when the price traded at $3,507.
$4,300 is now a crucial level for ETH to surpass.
Since Sunday, ETH has surpassed the $4,300 level several times but has fallen back below it. This comes amidst increasing institutional interest in Ether, although analysts remain divided on the likelihood of prices continuing to rise.
Brian Quinlivan, an analyst at Santiment, pointed out that public information about large purchases from institutions could stimulate FOMO sentiment, leading to a temporary slowdown or even pulling the price of Ether down.
According to a report from Bitcoin Magazine, the total amount of ETH held by companies with cryptocurrency reserves has increased to 3.04 million ETH, equivalent to about $13 billion.