Ethereum faces $46M selloff as demand weakens

More than $46M worth of ETH was transferred to exchanges on January 8, marking the highest net inflows in nearly three weeks.
The sale comes amid weak demand after spot ETH ETFs posted their second-highest outflow since launch.

Ethereum (ETH) has yet to register any significant gains in 2025. In the past two days, the largest altcoin has fallen from around $3,700 to trade at $3,324 at press time.

One of the factors behind Ethereum's bearish trend is weak demand. For example, on January 8, the outflow of Ethereum exchange traded funds (ETFs) reached $159M per Value of Soso.

This was the second highest level of outflow since the products were launched in July last year.

In addition to institutional investors, retail traders also appear to be in the distribution phase, causing an increase in selling activity.

ETH is under heavy selling pressure

Data from CryptoQuant shows that on January 8, the net inflow for ETH hit 14,143 exchanges, worth more than $46M. This was the highest amount of positive web traffic in almost three weeks.

Source: CryptoQuant

These flows led to an increase in exchange reserves to 8.06M ETH, which is also the highest level in a week.

When more ETH tokens are transferred to exchanges, it shows the intention of traders to sell. This could lead to bearish sentiment, and once these signals are dumped into the market, it leads to negative price movement.

Will sellers push ETH below $3,000?

Ethereum's weekly chart shows a critical support level at $2,870. Going with past trends, breaks below this support have coincided with significant declines in prices.

If selling activity continues amid a lack of demand to absorb the sold coins, ETH could fall further towards this support level. However, sales activity has not yet overcome the pressure of buying.

This was seen in the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator which stood at 52 at press time, which was an almost neutral level.

Source: TradingView

If neither buyers nor sellers are dominant, ETH could enter a consolidation zone. However, traders should be wary of the bearish pressure indicated by the Awesome Oscillator (AO) red histogram bars.

Ethereum exchange rate is up today against Ethereum

Ethereum's estimated leverage ratio, which measures risk appetite among traders, has risen to 0.605, setting a new record high.

Source: CryptoQuant

This rising ratio indicates that derivative traders are eager to open new positions. It could also indicate that these traders are looking to take advantage of short-term price movements as speculative interest grows.

Ethereum stock price history for 2025-2026

Leverage may also increase variable price movements if forced liquidation results from unexpected price movements.

However, despite the ever-increasing interest, the demand for long positions has decreased as reflected in funding levels. This indicates that the bullish sentiment has cooled.