As Market Uncertainty Rises, Ethereum Falls Below $1,800, Two Whales’ Nearly $90 Million Positions Face Liquidation
With the increase in market uncertainty, Ethereum has come under pressure, dropping below $1,800. Two whales with positions nearing $90 million were on the brink of liquidation, with one of them seemingly unconcerned about replenishing their position. Ethereum DeFi trading remains sluggish, and gas fees have fallen below 0.5 gwei.
(Background: 126,000 ETH Faces Liquidation! The Moment of Surrender for Ethereum Whales Approaches: Can the Pectra Upgrade be a Turning Point?)
This Week’s Financial Market Enters a Period of High Uncertainty
The U.S. President Trump is expected to announce a series of significant trade measures on April 2 local time, including a “reciprocal tariff” policy. Simultaneously, the U.S. non-farm payroll report for March will be released on Friday, during which Federal Reserve Chairman Powell will also speak. These three events are bound to become key indicators for observing the U.S. economy, inflation outlook, and interest rate policy direction.
Ethereum Falls Below $1,800
Impacted by macro uncertainty, the cryptocurrency market weakened continuously last week, with Ethereum (ETH) breaking through the critical level of $1,800. According to Binance spot market data, around 6 AM today, ETH fell to $1,767.69, nearly retracing all gains since October 2023. Before the deadline, Ethereum saw a slight rebound, currently reported at $1,815.24, down 1.3% in the last 24 hours and down 9% in the last 7 days.
Two Whales’ Nearly $90 Million Positions at Risk of Liquidation
As ETH continues to decline, many leveraged long investors are facing liquidation pressure. On-chain analyst Yu Jin monitored that the price of ETH last night approached the liquidation threshold of two whale positions, with a total scale reaching $89.2 million.
A whale holding 64,800 ETH has a liquidation price of $1,788. The price approached this level several times last night, but the address did not take any actions to replenish or reduce risks, demonstrating an extremely high risk tolerance. Currently, the market price of ETH is only a few dollars above its liquidation price, remaining in a perilous situation.
In contrast, another whale holding 60,800 ETH chose to respond proactively. Last night, he added 2,600 ETH as collateral and repaid 320,000 DAI, successfully reducing the liquidation price from its original position to $1,701, temporarily escaping the danger zone.
Regarding market questions about “why the ETH spot price has dropped below the first whale’s liquidation price but the position has not been liquidated,” Yu Jin further explained:
The whale with 64,800 ETH opened the position on MakerDAO, where Maker uses oracle prices for liquidation, which are updated hourly. The oracle price at 9 PM last night was $1,795.8, higher than its liquidation price of $1,787.7; thus, the liquidation mechanism has not yet been triggered. Even if the spot price continues to fall, it will not be immediately liquidated until the next update (at 10 PM).
This also means that the oracle mechanism effectively provides leveraged users with a “buffer time,” allowing them to repay debts or replenish collateral before the oracle updates to avoid forced liquidation.
Ethereum Gas Falls Below 0.5 gwei
Observing Ethereum’s on-chain activities, it is evident that most investors, like the aforementioned whale, are not in a hurry to execute transactions, which contrasts with past scenarios where gas fees soared during market crashes. Etherscan data shows that ETH gas fees once dropped to 0.37 gwei, currently reported at 0.48 gwei, making a basic transaction cost only $0.36, reflecting a significant cooling in overall on-chain activity.
