ETH trades near $2,300 amid ETF outflows, whale selling, bearish indicators

Despite a recent postponement of an upgrade, Ethereum's price action remains under scrutiny as institutional capital flows and technical indicators exert downward pressure, with the asset trading near the $2,300 threshold.

Current data indicates that ETH was trading around $2,312, representing a decrease of approximately 0.43% over the preceding 24 hours, with trading volume reaching $8.77 billion. Over the month of October, the cryptocurrency has experienced a decline of roughly 13.6%, leading market participants to observe whether the existing support level can endure through the final trading sessions of the month. A primary point of concern for investors in Ethereum centers on the movement of institutional funds, given that U.S. spot ETH ETFs have seen several weeks of net withdrawals. According to data provided by SoSoValue, these funds registered $88.58 million in net outflows on October 26, although cumulative net inflows reached $12.63 billion. The total net assets for these funds stood at $14.07 billion, and the daily trading volume amounted to $506.23 million. These most recent withdrawals followed a period where Ethereum funds saw $320.1 million leave during October 12–16, which surpassed the $228.4 million withdrawn from Bitcoin ETFs.

Uncertainty is further compounded by selling activity from long-term asset holders. Blockchain tracker Lookonchain documented an Ethereum ICO participant who originally acquired 100,000 ETH at a price of $0.31 per coin, subsequently selling an additional 1,500 ETH, valued at roughly $3.48 million, across an eight-hour span. This individual, referred to as a #EthereumOG, purchased 100,000 $ETH at just $0.31 each and sold another 1,500 $ETH ($3.48M) in the last 8 hours. Previous large transactions involving Ethereum holders included transfers of thousands of ETH from early investors to centralized exchanges; however, such deposits alone do not confirm that a sale has actually occurred, as this merely increases the immediately available supply.

Conversely, separate on-chain metrics suggest that some investors are withdrawing Ethereum from trading platforms. In an October 27 analysis by Arab Chain from CryptoQuant, the Net Unrealized Profit/Loss indicator for Ethereum had dropped to approximately 0.0073, nearing a neutral state. This NUPL metric gauges unrealized gains and losses across the circulating supply, and a reading near zero implies that the aggregate unrealized gains have substantially diminished, placing the market near the demarcation between net profits and losses. The analyst noted consistent negative netflows originating from Binance throughout October, with certain periods showing exceptionally large withdrawals. While these movements might suggest that investors are transferring ETH to private wallets or alternative venues, the ultimate destination and subsequent utilization of those holdings remain unknown. Santiment previously recorded approximately 169,770 ETH in net exchange withdrawals on October 22, marking its largest daily outflow in over four months; however, the analytics firm cautioned that similar historical withdrawals have occurred near price troughs, and this did not confirm the emergence of a new market bottom.

From a technical standpoint, the Ethereum price was trading near $2,310 on the daily chart, slightly above the lower Bollinger Band, which is set at $2,301.40. The 20-day simple moving average registered at $2,424.08, while the upper band was situated near $2,546.76, positioning ETH beneath its short-term trend average. Momentum indicators maintained a bearish posture, with the MACD line registering at −61.21 against a signal line of −49.41. The negative histogram reading of −11.80 indicated ongoing selling pressure, though it did not signal an acceleration of losses. Crypto analyst Daan Crypto Trades suggested that the $2,150–$2,350 band constitutes an appealing zone for spot investors in the longer term, stating that bulls must recapture $2,350 before they can challenge $2,550 to reinstate stronger upward momentum. Concurrently, Ash Crypto designated $2,300 as immediate weekly support, cautioning that a breach of this level could expose $1,900. This analyst positioned resistance at $2,550 and $2,800, while also observing that the weekly stochastic RSI momentum remained bearish.

ETH Weekly Analysis shows that $ETH closed above the 1W MA50 for the sixth time, even as BTC Dominance surpassed 60% and global markets face uncertainty. The asset remains situated between $2,300 and $2,800, testing both bullish and bearish scenarios preceding its next significant movement. Sykodelic offered a contrasting, more optimistic perspective, positing that Ethereum might resolve its current pattern to the upside within a week, provided that buying demand returns and ETH maintains its proximate support.

Beyond the analysis of fund flows and technical levels, Ethereum developers have deferred the activation of the Glamsterdam upgrade, which was scheduled for October 26 on the Hoodi testnet. The Ethereum Foundation made the announcement of this delay after encountering issues related to EIP-8037 and existing smart contracts, though no new activation date was provided. This postponement pertains only to the testnet deployment and does not signify a reversal of Ethereum's mainnet. Developers are currently evaluating the compatibility problems before establishing a revised schedule, while investors await the Federal Reserve's decision on October 28 and the subsequent U.S. inflation data.

These developments highlight the interplay between macro-financial uncertainty, institutional positioning, and underlying protocol development timelines, all of which influence the technical trajectory of decentralized finance assets.

Why it matters

The current price action is heavily influenced by institutional fund flows and bearish technical indicators, which are key factors for DeFi and L2 adoption sentiment. The delay of the Glamsterdam upgrade introduces governance uncertainty as developers address EIP-8037 compatibility issues before proceeding.