Ethereum Falls Below $1,800 on Tariff Concerns and ETF Outflows

Ethereum’s Ether, or ETH, and Bitcoin, or BTC, are key benchmarks for the crypto-asset market. Investor concerns over blockchain security and market liquidity rose after a critical Zcash bug emerged. Bitcoin’s fall below the psychologically important $60,000 level also intensified selling pressure on ETH, pushing sentiment into extremely bearish territory and increasing the risk of cascading liquidations.

In the latest selloff, ETH plunged to $1,540 on Friday, its lowest level in 13 months, while BTC fell below $60,000. A total of $1.28 billion in leveraged long positions was liquidated in the derivatives market over the previous five days. Traders began to fear that ETH could fall further to $1,400, with its near-term direction hinging on whether BTC can reclaim the key threshold.

Ether is the second-largest crypto asset by market capitalization after Bitcoin, and its price has broad implications for DeFi and staking markets. In May 2026, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury exceeded 4.6%, well above ETH's annualized staking yield of about 2.5%. Outflows from U.S. spot ETH ETFs also weakened both the appeal of holding ETH for yield and institutional demand.

On May 28, ETH fell below $2,000 for the first time since late March, trading at about $1,980. It was down more than 5% over 24 hours and nearly 8% over seven days. Coinglass data showed futures open interest rising for a third consecutive day to a record 16.39 million ETH, with a notional value of about $32.5 billion. U.S. spot ETFs recorded $401 million in net outflows in May, reversing net inflows of $354 million in April and reflecting increased leveraged short positioning.

Ethereum is a key pillar of decentralized finance, or DeFi. Total value locked, or TVL, measures the value of assets deposited in onchain protocols and is commonly used as an indicator of capital flows and user demand. Weakening technical signals for ETH alongside shrinking TVL may indicate that both risk appetite and onchain momentum are cooling, putting the $1,800 support zone in focus.

Cointelegraph reported on May 26, 2026, that ETH had fallen 13% from a high above $2,400 and formed a bear flag on the daily chart. A break below $2,060 would point to $1,800, which was 14% below the price at the time. DefiLlama data showed Ethereum TVL had fallen to $116 billion, a 13-month low and 55% below its $258 billion peak on August 14, 2025.

Ethereum is the second-largest crypto asset by market capitalization after Bitcoin, and the ETH/BTC ratio is commonly used to gauge investor preference between the two blockchain ecosystems. Ether has depreciated by more than 35% against Bitcoin over the past year, indicating that capital has become more concentrated in Bitcoin and weakening expectations for a period of relative Ethereum strength.

The ETH/BTC ratio recently fell to a nearly 10-month low and remains capped by a long-term descending trendline. Analysts said Binance’s Ether reserves continue to rise, potentially signaling increased selling pressure. If the 2025 bear-market pattern repeats, ETH could initially fall 20% in the short term, while an extreme technical scenario points to a possible further decline of 40%.

Ethereum is one of the largest smart-contract and DeFi ecosystems, and the price of ETH influences both on-chain capital flows and institutional risk appetite. Since April 14, 2026, ETH has largely traded between $2,250 and $2,400. The $2,400 level has rejected rallies five times within a month, making it a key dividing line between bulls and bears.

On May 8, ETH fell more than 5.6% to $2,275 after another rejection at $2,400. Nansen reported that transaction volume fell 10% to 4.79 million, while active addresses declined 8% to 2.5 million. The Coinbase Premium has been negative since April 27, and U.S. spot ETFs recorded net outflows of $103 million on May 7. The chart pattern points to a potential decline toward $1,830.

Ether (ETH), the Ethereum network's native asset, often reflects onchain activity and risk appetite in the broader crypto market. Citing TradingView on April 28, Cointelegraph reported that ETH had fallen below $2,300 and was trading between its 100-day exponential moving average of $2,350 and its 100-day simple moving average of $2,220. The $2,200 level was seen as crucial support for bulls seeking to avert a deeper correction.

A May 18 report showed ETH had fallen 12% from its May 6 peak of $2,420, touching a low of $2,090 on May 17. CryptoQuant said hourly taker sell volume on Binance had exceeded $1.1 billion, while U.S. spot Ether ETFs recorded $255 million in net outflows over five days. About 3.85 million ETH had a cost basis between $2,000 and $2,100, and a break below $2,000 could send the price toward $1,700.

Ethereum is a major crypto asset with substantial leveraged exposure, making it vulnerable to cascading liquidations when its price breaks below key support levels. The US Federal Open Market Committee kept interest rates unchanged on March 18 but raised its inflation outlook, pressuring risk assets. CoinGlass data showed that more than $2.5 billion in ETH long positions across exchanges could be liquidated if the token fell below $2,000.

On March 19, TradingView data showed ETH fell 7% in a single day to a low of $2,140, triggering about $144 million in long liquidations. By March 27, ETH had again fallen below $2,000 to $1,975, down 5% over 24 hours, with more than $111 million in additional long positions liquidated. SoSoValue data showed US spot ETH ETFs had recorded seven consecutive days of net outflows totaling $391.8 million.

Ethereum is the second-largest crypto asset by market capitalization after Bitcoin, and $2,000 is a key psychological level in the contest between bulls and bears. The MVRV Z-Score measures the gap between market value and realized value. A move into the accumulation zone typically indicates that an asset is undervalued and could draw long-term buyers back into the market.

Ethereum has rebounded about 18% from its February low and recently reclaimed and held the $2,000 support level. Onchain data show that the MVRV Z-Score has entered the accumulation zone, while market volatility has climbed to its highest level in nearly 12 months. Analysts say these signals suggest ETH is shifting from low-volatility consolidation into a highly volatile phase of bottom formation and recovery.

Ether (ETH) is the Ethereum network's native asset, and the market closely watches price movements as well as token holdings linked to the Ethereum Foundation and its co-founder. On January 30, Vitalik Buterin announced plans to withdraw and sell 16,384 ETH through Kanro to fund the ecosystem, open-source software and long-term projects. With risk aversion rising, the potential additional supply has created near-term pressure.

On February 23, ETH fell more than 5.6% to about $1,850 and broke below the lower boundary of a bear flag, pointing to a target of $1,475 between late February and early March. Arkham Intelligence tracking showed that Buterin had sold about 9,000 ETH in several batches since the start of February, leaving roughly 7,350 ETH still to be sold. ETH was down 18.55% in February.