Ether at risk of new 2026 lows if bulls fail to turn $2.4K into support

Ether (ETH) price may be at risk of a correction to new year-to-date lows, especially if the bulls fail to secure daily candle closes above the $2,150 to $2,400 range.

Ether’s price action continues to be driven by US and global macroeconomic events, along with investors’ appetite for risk assets during the US and Israel-Iran war. As data shows more than $1 billion in futures-driven sell pressure, the chance of Ether falling below $1,800 rises.

Ether’s main challenge sits at $2,400

Repeat rejections near $2,150 continue to cap Ether rallies, and the level has acted as a strong resistance seven times over the past two months. The trend and its resistance dominate the price action, despite the pattern of higher-high and higher-low candles, which can be seen on the daily chart.

A break below the ascending trendline may shift traders’ focus to $1,900, where liquidity sits near the equal lows formed during the first week of March. Losing that level introduces a bearish break of structure, exposing the external liquidity pockets to Ether’s yearly low at $1,736. 

The short positioning has not increased significantly despite the recent decline. The liquidation heatmap shows an imbalance within a 10% range ($1,845–$2,255) from the current price, with approximately $2.4 billion in long liquidations clustered near the lower bound ($1,845) and $1.7 billion in short liquidations near the upper bound ($2,255).

This skew indicates that downside liquidity is larger, but the short positioning still isn’t overcrowded, even as the price continues to weaken.

The absence of large short buildup points to a passive positioning stance rather than conviction-driven selling. The price continues to compress under resistance, with buyers unable to reclaim control above the key threshold of $2,150. 

Related: Ethereum bulls must hold $2K: Volatility metric hints at ‘strong’ move next

ETH derivatives spike after continued macro volatility

A surge in ETH futures selling followed comments by US President Donald Trump, which escalated tensions with Iran rather than calming markets. Trump signaled that military action will continue until late April and warned of potential strikes on Iran’s power plants.

Following the development, crypto analyst Darkfost noted that Ether futures sell volume on Binance increased by $1 billion within an hour.

Despite the surge in selling, ETH continues to trade just below the $2,150 resistance level. A sustained move above $2,150 would open the way toward $2,400, where resistance is relatively thin.

If the price clears $2,400, the next expansion zone sits near $2,800, where little trading activity has occurred over the past six months.

For now, ETH remains range-bound, capped by repeated resistance near $2,150, with $1,900 acting as the nearest liquidity pivot, which may extend the bearish breakdown. 

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