Ethereum price: $343 million in long liquidations push Ether to $2,120

The Ethereum price came under pressure on Sunday evening. At around 23:40 German time one Ether cost $2,120, or €1,907, according to CoinGecko, almost 5 percent less than 24 hours earlier. What is documented is that a wave of forced selling of leveraged long positions accompanied the decline, and that Ether was hit harder than Bitcoin. Our assessment follows further down and addresses whether the sell-off has already run its course.

The figures for the evening: in the hour to 23:21 German time, positions worth $745 million were forcibly closed on the derivatives market, TokenPost reported, citing exchange data. Around 96 percent of that, $715 million, were long positions, in other words bets on rising prices. Over 24 hours, $343 million of liquidations fell on Ether and $229 million on Bitcoin. The largest single liquidation hit an Ether position in the ETH/USDT pair on Binance, worth $48.16 million.

Readers with a longer horizon will find the scenarios for the coming months in our Ethereum outlook. This article stays with the evening itself: what happened, why leverage makes the price fall faster than selling without credit, and which levels matter now.

Ethereum price on Sunday evening: from $2,243 to $2,063

The 24-hour high was $2,242.93, according to CoinGecko. On the way down, Ether reached a low of $2,063.29 on the OKX exchange before recovering slightly to around $2,130. From high to low, that is a drop of 8.0 percent. Bitcoin gave up only 1.9 percent over the same period and traded at $74,288.

Measured by CoinGecko's daily closing prices, Ether was last lower on August 19. Over seven days the loss comes to 6.1 percent, over 30 days to 14.4 percent. The price is now 57 percent below the all-time high of $4,946, reached on August 24, 2025.

In euro terms, Ether now sits just below €1,910. Yesterday evening we described the €2,000 mark as the test; it has since been breached by a clear margin.

What is a liquidation in the crypto market?

A liquidation is the forced closure of a position opened with borrowed money. Anyone who buys Ether with ten times leverage puts up only a tenth of the position's value as collateral, the so-called margin. If the price falls far enough that the margin no longer covers the loss, the exchange closes the position automatically to limit its own credit risk.

The mechanism amplifies price moves. Every forcibly closed long position is a sale at market price, and that sale pushes the price lower still. As a result, the next positions slip below their liquidation threshold. On the derivatives market this is called a cascade. The fact that 96 percent of the liquidations in that evening hour hit long positions shows how one-sided the market was positioned before the decline.

A worked example with Sunday's figures

Anyone who bought at Sunday's high of $2,243 with twelve times leverage loses, on paper, the entire collateral on a price decline of just over 8 percent. That is exactly the range Ether covered down to the low of $2,063. With 20 times leverage, a fall of 5 percent is enough, to roughly $2,130. Because of the maintenance margin and fees, the actual liquidation threshold sits somewhat earlier still. Without leverage, the same evening means a book loss of 8 percent, but not the total loss of the position.

Why Ether fell harder than Bitcoin: $343 million against $229 million

Bitcoin is worth roughly six times as much as Ether in the crypto market, yet Ether liquidations on Sunday were half as large again. The reason lies in positioning. Leveraged long positions on Ether had built up after the decline of November 5 and 6, when many traders bet on a recovery. When the price then falls again, those positions are hit in a cluster.

On top of that comes the weaker backdrop for funds. On Friday, net outflows of around $93 million left the US spot Ether ETFs, according to AltcoinBuzz. In the week before, we had described the sixth consecutive week of outflows, at a net $365 million, in our Ethereum price report from Saturday. When funds supply no fresh money, the spot market lacks the buyer who could absorb a leveraged sell-off.

What has happened to the Ethereum price since Saturday

On Saturday evening Ether hovered around $2,235, within a daily range of only $25. At the time we described the €2,000 mark as the line that would show whether buyers would return after the sixth week of ETF outflows. A good 24 hours later the answer is clear: the line did not hold. Ether is almost €100 below it.

What is new is the derivatives market as the driver. On Saturday, ETF flows and exchange balances were the topic. Sunday shows that a quiet weekend market with thin trading is particularly vulnerable when many traders have levered up in the same direction. The supply side offers no tailwind at the moment either: as our article on Ethereum issuance and burn from Sunday shows, 2,982 new ETH were added in a single day, while only 10 were burned.

Ether against Bitcoin: the ETH/BTC ratio falls to 0.0286

A second look at the ratio of Ether to Bitcoin is worthwhile. It shows how much Bitcoin one Ether costs and so measures relative strength independently of the dollar. On Sunday evening the value stood at 0.0286 BTC, according to CoinGecko. Thirty days ago it was 0.0301 BTC, so Ether has lost around 5 percent of its value against Bitcoin.

Measured by daily values over the past twelve months, the ratio was last lower on July 14. The range for the year runs from 0.0248 BTC on June 7 to 0.0361 BTC on January 20. Ether therefore sits in the lower third of that range. For investors who hold both coins this matters: when ETH/BTC falls, the weighting in the portfolio shifts towards Bitcoin by itself.

Why the ratio matters for investors in Germany

Anyone who switches between Ether and Bitcoin is, for tax purposes, exchanging one coin for another. In Germany that counts as a sale. If the Ether was bought less than a year ago, a taxable gain or an offsettable loss arises. Switching after a price slump like Sunday's can therefore realise a loss that can be offset against gains from other private disposal transactions in the same year.

Ethereum price levels: $2,063, $2,000 and $2,243

On the downside, the evening's low of $2,063 is the first level. That is where the liquidations ended and buyers lifted the price again. If Ether falls below it once more, the market loses this experience as a footing. The next level is the round figure of $2,000, which Ether last fell below in August, according to CoinGecko's daily closing prices.

On the upside, the 24-hour high stands at $2,243. Ether would need to reclaim this area for Sunday's decline to count as an outlier. Halfway between $2,063 and $2,243 lies roughly $2,150; Ether traded just below it late in the evening.

In euros, €1,900 is the evening's floor and €2,000 the level that would have to be regained. Anyone comparing euro prices should watch the exchange rate: a weaker dollar makes the euro price of Ether fall more than the dollar price.

Buying Ether without leverage: what Sunday shows

Sunday evening separates two kinds of investor. Anyone who bought Ether on an exchange without credit holds the same amount of ETH after the decline as before. Anyone who bought with leverage may have lost the position, even though the price then recovered slightly. Leverage turns a fluctuation into a final loss.

For retail investors in the EU, leveraged crypto products are heavily restricted. For CFDs on cryptocurrencies, BaFin rules cap leverage for retail clients at 2 to 1. Unregulated derivatives exchanges outside the EU, by contrast, offer many times that. If you want to invest in Ether for the long term, our crypto exchange comparison lists providers licensed under the European MiCA regulation, where buying without credit is the norm.

Ether losses in Germany: holding period and loss offsetting

Anyone who holds Ether for more than a year sells tax-free in Germany. Sunday's slump changes nothing about that as long as you do not sell. For purchases made in the past twelve months the picture is different: many of these positions are in the red, because a year ago Ether cost considerably more than it does today. A sale realises the loss, and that loss can be offset against gains from other private disposal transactions in the same year or carried forward to later years.

For gains, an exemption limit of €1,000 a year has applied since 2024. If the total of all gains from private disposal transactions stays below it, the amount remains tax-free; if the limit is exceeded by even one euro, the entire amount becomes taxable. Our page on the crypto holding period summarises the current state of the debate. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance's guidance, staking does not extend the holding period to ten years.

Our assessment of the Ethereum price after the liquidations

Our assessment: Sunday's sell-off has the cause the figures suggest, namely too many leveraged long positions in a market without fresh fund money. The evidence for this is the 96 percent long share of liquidations in the evening hour, the $343 million of Ether liquidations over 24 hours and Friday's $93 million of ETF outflows. A clear-out of this kind can relieve the derivatives market, because fewer leveraged positions are left afterwards that could be forcibly sold again.

Against this, nothing has changed in the underlying picture. The ETFs have delivered no money for six weeks, the ratio to Bitcoin is falling, and the supply of Ether is currently growing faster than it is burned. In our view, a recovery above $2,243 would therefore only have substance once the funds report inflows again. Until then, the low of $2,063 remains the most important level.

Ether at $2,120: without fund money, $2,063 stays the test

1. Choose how you buy: If you want to add Ether, do it on an exchange with a MiCA licence and without credit. The exchange comparison shows fees and licensing for each provider.
2. Document losses: Note the purchase date and purchase price of every Ether position. A tax tool from our crypto tax software comparison calculates holding periods and realised losses automatically.
3. Secure your holdings: What you hold for the long term does not belong in an account with leverage. Self-custody from the hardware wallet comparison separates your holdings from trading.

(As of November 8, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)