ETH drops 0.20% in 15 minutes: whale selling combined with leveraged liquidations causes short-term pressure

On May 4, 2026, from 15:00 to 16:00 (UTC), the ETH price experienced a slight pullback, with a return of -0.20%, trading within a range of 2361.11 to 2374.34 USDT, with an amplitude of 0.56%. In a liquid trading environment, the asset faced short-term pressure, and market attention significantly increased.

The main driver of this fluctuation was the concentrated sell-off behavior of whales. On-chain data shows that large holders transferred a substantial amount of ETH to exchanges during this period, with net inflows of ETH into exchanges rising sharply, creating a short-term oversupply and directly suppressing the price. Meanwhile, leverage ratios in the derivatives market increased, forcing some longs to liquidate, further intensifying spot selling pressure, jointly pushing the price downward.

Additionally, multiple factors resonated together. On the fundamental network side, despite a daily trading volume of 3.6 million transactions and a continuous increase in active addresses, indicating high activity, the Layer 2 scaling expansion following the Dencun upgrade led to a decrease in on-chain transaction fees, reducing ETH burn volume, and causing a decoupling between price and network fundamentals. In terms of capital flow, after a brief rebound in ETF inflows in April 2026, net outflows followed, with institutional funds showing a clear wait-and-see stance, failing to generate substantial buying support. At the protocol level, recent upgrades focused on scaling and security, but in the short term, they did not bring positive price feedback, and market sentiment remained cautious.

In the short term, key support levels to watch are at $2,162; a break below this could pose further downside risk. Resistance at $2,480 remains unbroken, so a rebound cannot be confirmed yet. On-chain capital flows, ETF fund movements, and macro news will be important indicators for future trends. Current volatility risks persist, and it is recommended to monitor more market information to grasp the market rhythm.