Ether breaks $1,900 resistance as staking hits record 34% of supply

Ether tested $1,950 on July 21, the highest in seven weeks, triggering $62 million in short liquidations as futures open interest climbed to $19.8 billion across all exchanges.

"Ether has successfully turned the $1,750 horizontal level into support, the first meaningful reclaim of a previous resistance area during the current downtrend," Daan Crypto Trades, a pseudonymous analyst, said.

Long liquidations dominance fell to 4%, its lowest level in a year, with 96% of liquidated positions representing short traders forced out as the price pushed higher, Glassnode data shows. Whale trader Machi Big Brother opened a $24.3 million ETH long at 25x leverage, with liquidation set at $1,833, according to Arkham Intelligence.

The breakout faces a critical test at the $1,900-$2,000 resistance zone. A confirmed daily close above that level on rising volume could open the path toward $2,438, nearly 30% above the current price. On the downside, losing the $1,754 support — a triple confluence of a long-term trendline from the June 2022 bottom, horizontal support, and the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement — would expose the $1,600 area.

On-Chain Activity Stagnates Despite Price Gains

Weekly revenue for Ethereum's decentralized applications fell to $9.8 million, the lowest since September 2024, according to DefiLlama. Decentralized exchange volumes dropped to $7.2 billion per week, with top projects including Ethena, Mantle and Arbitrum posting losses of 50% or more year-to-date. Perpetual futures funding rates have recovered from negative territory in late June but remain below the neutral 6%-12% annualized range, signaling cautious positioning among derivatives traders.

Staking Hits Record 34% as Long-Term Holders Accumulate

A record 34% of all ETH supply is now staked, up from 33% one month earlier, Staking Rewards data shows. Bitmine Immersion added 156,719 ETH over the past month and now controls 4.8% of available supply, reducing sell pressure from long-term holders. The elevated staking ratio has helped support prices despite the broader downtrend that left Ether 61% below its all-time high from August 2025.

External catalysts could determine the next leg. Google parent Alphabet is expected to report quarterly results on July 22, and strong cloud revenue growth could restore risk appetite across technology and crypto markets. The Glamsterdam upgrade, delayed to the latter half of the third quarter, remains the next major network catalyst.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.