Ethereum price rejects $2,000 as CLARITY Act stalls, will $1,800 hold?

Ethereum price has fallen as much as 3.5% to $1,820 on July 17 after its latest rally stalled below $2,000 and weak Democratic support for the CLARITY Act hurt sentiment across the crypto market.

According to data, Ethereum ( $ETH ) later recovered to around $1,835, but sellers erased most of the gains recorded during its push to $1,940 earlier this week. A Politico report that Senate Democrats do not currently support the market structure bill reduced its chances of securing the 60 votes needed for passage.

Democratic lawmakers have demanded conflict-of-interest restrictions tied to President Donald Trump’s crypto holdings before supporting the legislation. Analysts now assign the bill less than a 30% chance of passing this year, according to Barron’s, while Congress faces a narrowing window before its August recess.

At the same time, more than $400 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data.

CoinGlass’ three-day ETH liquidation heatmap shows dense leverage around $1,800–$1,810, placing the zone just below Ethereum’s current price. On the upside, liquidation clusters sit near $1,845–$1,860, while the largest overhead concentration appears around $1,950–$1,960.

A move through $1,860 could therefore accelerate toward $1,950, but a break below $1,800 may trigger another wave of long liquidations.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs have offered only limited support. The funds attracted $84.42 million during the week ended July 11, breaking eight consecutive weeks of net outflows, but Fidelity’s FETH recorded a $15.4 million withdrawal on July 13. ETF demand has therefore remained uneven despite ETH’s recovery from its late-June low near $1,500.

Economic data added pressure as initial jobless claims fell to a two-month low of 208,000. June retail sales rose 0.2%, while core sales advanced 0.5%, prompting some economists to lift second-quarter growth estimates to as high as 2.4%.

Those figures reduced expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.596%, while the two-year yield reached 4.179%, raising the opportunity cost of holding risk assets such as Ethereum.

Ethereum must reclaim $1,875 before another $2,000 test

Ethereum’s daily chart shows that the rebound lost strength after reaching approximately $1,940. ETH has since returned to the $1,832 breakout level, which previously capped several recovery attempts during June and early July.

Daily momentum remains positive but has started to weaken. The MACD line stands at 35.22 against a signal line of 18.11, with the histogram still above zero at 17.11. The relative strength index has slipped to 56.06 and now sits below its moving average at 57.53, showing that buyers have lost some control without pushing ETH into bearish momentum.

On the four-hour chart, ETH has dropped below the Bollinger Band midpoint at $1,874. The lower band near $1,796 now forms the next volatility-based support, while the upper band at $1,952 sits just below the psychological $2,000 barrier.

Chaikin Money Flow remains positive at 0.17, showing that capital has not fully left the market. Buyers must recover $1,875 and then clear the $1,940–$1,952 area before ETH can challenge the daily resistance at $2,006. A successful daily close above that level would expose the next major chart barrier near $2,225.

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