Ethereum Drops to $4,536 as ETF Outflows and Leverage Liquidations Trigger Market Pullback

• Ethereum price falls 2.3% in 24 hours, driven by ETF outflows and long position liquidations
• Over $59 million withdrawn from ETH ETFs, while $210 million in leveraged longs are liquidated

The price of Ethereum dropped by 2.3 percent in the past 24 hours, hitting and trading at $4,536, which is a poor performance compared to overall crypto market standards. This fall came after the sudden reversal of the institutional inflows and the increased volatility of the derivatives markets.

$59M Withdrawn from Ethereum ETFs, Breaking 8-Day Inflow Streak

Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had registered a net outflow of 59.3 million on August 18, after eight days of consecutive inflows. According to CoinGlass data, BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF (ETHA) was the only fund to record $19.7 million in redemptions.

Such outflows come after a significant 77% Ethereum rally in the last 90 days, which caused investors to take profits. Although institutional investors have been the main center of Ethereum’s price increase in 2025, the out-of-the-blue reversal of ETF flows indicates that there is a temporary pause in demand.

Regardless of the sell-off, ETFs still hold about $24.3 billion worth of Ethereum, or about 5.08 percent of the total supply. According to analysts, historical trends indicate a normalization trend of ETF outflows within several days of primary profit-taking.

The following set of ETF flow data, which should be issued by 4 PM ET today, should hint at whether the recent trend is a short-term rebalancing or the onset of prolonged outflows.

Derivatives Market Sees $210M in Long Liquidations as Funding Rates Surge

The dump occurred as the Ethereum futures markets were turbulent. Interest in ETH derivatives rose 15 percent to $1.04 trillion before the fall. Long positions worth over $210 million were sold out as spot prices dropped below the 4,600 level, the biggest ever since August 20.

The rate of perpetual futures contracts funding increased sharply to + 0.0078, which is higher than the rate of + 0.0028 on the last day. High funding rates are increasing the cost of maintaining long positions, and the results are a liquidation cascade as the overleveraged traders drop positions.

Though the correction added volatility in the short term, a sharp fall in leverage did enhance the spot to derivatives volume ratio, which increased to 0.23 this week compared to 0.18. Technical indicators indicate that the important level of support is at 4,400, which is also in line with the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement and past whale cluster accumulations.

The total supply of Ethereum’s stablecoins also hit an all-time high of $160 billion, meaning that dry powder is still at the edges. The traders, however, have chosen to minimize their risk exposure amid the macro uncertainty and changing funding dynamics.