Ether Price Plunges to $1,800: What’s Behind the Sudden Drop?
Ether (ETH) has experienced a significant price drop, falling to $1,800 on Tuesday, which resulted in the liquidation of $224 million in leveraged bullish positions over a 48-hour period. This 14% price drop in the last 10 days has put top traders on the defensive, with options and futures data, sluggish on-chain activity, and steady outflows from Ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) all pointing to a shaky floor at $1,800.
Put-to-call volume premium for ETH options at Deribit. Source: laevitas.ch
Market Sentiment and Options Data
After demand for put (sell) and call (buy) options remained somewhat balanced from Monday to Saturday, things changed quickly on Tuesday, with ETH’s put-to-call volume premium rising to 2.2x, showing a sudden scramble for downside protection. While some may have sold puts to bet on a price rise, the broader market appears to be bracing for more volatility.
ETH 30-day options delta skew (put call) at Deribit. Source: laevitas.ch
The options delta skew (put call) was 18% on Tuesday, meaning puts were trading at a significant premium, indicating a lack of confidence in the market, even with ETH down 63% from its all-time high. A significant portion of this frustration stems from weak on-chain numbers, with the total value locked (TVL) on Ethereum falling to $51 billion, the lowest level since May 2025.
On-Chain Activity and Network Fees
Ethereum network TVL and weekly chain fees, USD. Source: DefiLlama
As decentralized applications (DApps) receive fewer deposits, network fees have fallen to $13.7 million in the last 30 days, a far cry from the $33 million average at the end of 2025. Traders worry that ETH demand for data processing won’t return anytime soon. Although expected, the recent $7 million in ETH sales linked to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin did not improve sentiment.
Outflows from Ether ETFs have only worsened investor sentiment, with U.S.-listed Ether ETFs seeing net outflows of $405 million since February 11, resulting in a decline in total assets under management to $12.4 billion. This shift occurred just as gold prices rose above $5,150, with gold ETFs raising $822 million in the week ending February 20, according to gold.org.
Daily net inflows of US-listed Ether ETFs, USD. Source: Farside Investors
Conclusion and Future Outlook
Ether’s weak on-chain and derivatives data is not a guaranteed death sentence, but the fact that whales and market makers seem to be bracing for further downside definitely fuels the bearish sentiment. The price of Ether is also currently tied to Bitcoin (BTC), as the asset’s 20-day correlation has been above 95% for the past three weeks. Until these derivatives metrics stabilize, the likelihood of further decline in ETH is still low. For more information, visit https://cointelegraph.com/news/eth-bounces-off-1-8k-as-multiple-ether-price-metrics-point-to-prolonged-weakness
