Market analysts say Ether (ETH) still faces “downside pressure” that could trigger another ETH price sell-off as traders shift their focus to support at $1,800. 

Key takeaways:

• Ether faces downside pressure as elevated leverage and positive funding rates amid falling prices signal fragile market conditions.
• Analysts say ETH must hold the $1,800-$1,750 support zone to avoid a deeper correction.

Ether price metrics suggest downside risks remain

Analysts have highlighted several reasons for Ether’s potential to drop lower, including an elevated estimated leveraged ratio and positive funding rates amid a “weakening price structure,” according to CryptoQuant analyst PelinayPA. 

The chart below shows that Ether’s estimated leverage ratio (yellow line) remains relatively elevated at around 0.74.

Related: Ether bears at risk of $2B squeeze as short positions build around $2K

The funding rate (blue line) has remained mostly in positive territory since mid-April, meaning long positions still dominate the market. Meanwhile, the RSI (purple line) is closer to the oversold zone at 31 and has not yet “produced a convincing recovery signal,” the analyst said in a Friday QuickTake analysis.

“Leverage remains elevated and long positioning is still dominant, yet price continues to struggle as the RSI reflects weakening momentum,” the analyst said, adding:

“Overall this combination suggests that short term downside pressure in the ETH market still remains the dominant structure.”

ETH: Funding rates and leveraged ratio

Under normal market conditions, rising leverage and increasing funding rates are usually supported by strong price expansion. However, in this case, leverage remains high while price continues to record lower lows.

“But the key signal is that this leverage build-up came alongside heavy sell-side pressure,” fellow analyst Amr Taha said in another QuickTake note. 

The chart below shows that the Binance cumulative net taker volume fell to around -$744 million, its deepest negative reading since April 6, 2026.

Amr Taha added:

“This means new leverage entered the market while aggressive sellers were still in control, making the setup more fragile than a clean bullish open-interest expansion.”

ETH: Cumulative net taker volume on Binance. Source: CryptoQuant

This suggests that the market structure is driven by derivative positioning instead of spot demand, which creates a weaker overall setup.

Waning demand is also seen in US-based spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which continue to post heavy outflows, indicating declining institutional interest. These ETFs have recorded outflows for thirteen consecutive days, totaling $695 million. The $121 million in net outflows recorded on Thursday marked the largest withdrawal in two weeks.

Spot Bitcoin Ether flows chart. Source: SoSoValue

As Cointelegraph reported, a break below the crucial $2,000 support and increased selling by whales indicate additional downside risk for ETH price in the near term.

Ether price must hold above $1,800

Ether’s 7% drop over the last three days has seen it lose the crucial $2,000 support, as the bears gained momentum.

Traders are now watching key levels on the downside, including the $1,800 demand zone.

“A good spot buy would be around $1,700-$1,800 key area,” analyst Suraj Jha said in a Friday post on X, adding:

“A confirmed breakdown below this level could shift the structure bearish and open up continuation to the downside.”

Fellow analyst Crypto Patel said Ether’s technical structure remains “bearish until we reclaim $3050.”

The ETH/USD pair “needs to hold $1,750 to keep the long-term bullish case alive,” the analyst said, adding:

“If $1,750 breaks, accumulation zone 2 sits at $,1500-$,1400, a massive discount for long-term holders.”

ETH/USD two-day chart. Source: X/CryptoPatel

A daily candlestick drop below $1,750 could trigger another sell-off episode, first toward the April 2026 low at $1,550 and later to the 2022 macro low around $1,000, as shown on the daily chart below. This would bring the total losses to 47% from the current price.

ETH/USD weekly chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

As Cointelegraph reported, after losing the psychological support at $2,000, the ETH/USD pair may then descend toward the $1,900-$1,750 zone, which buyers are expected to defend aggressively. 

As global trading trends race toward 24-hour, no-days-off markets, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission argued that it may be fine for the new blockchain-native players, but that expanded hours might not be appropriate for some of the traditional markets, the derivatives watchdog said in a Friday letter issued to the wide waterfront of firms it regulates.

The advisory — coming on the same day that the agency gave a consequential green light to native crypto platforms offering perpetual futures contracts — marks what may be a growing divide between the traditional firms and the new entrants.

“Because of inherent differences between underlying markets, switching to 24/7 trading and clearing may not currently be suitable for all asset classes,” the agency wrote to its regulated exchanges and clearing operations.

“The ability to engage in, and maintain, markets on a 24/7 basis has been, in part, paralleled by evolutions in market technologies, such as blockchain networks and decentralized infrastructure, alternate forms of collateral, including stablecoins and crypto assets, and market accessibility through smartphones and associated software applications,” the CFTC noted. “With this evolution, an increasing number of platforms, with a growing list of tradeable products, are providing 24/7 access to retail and institutional participants.”However, it said, “other derivatives markets, such as in agricultural products, may be less

suited for 24/7 trading due to their unique customer bases, regional nature, and the specialized

trading and hedging practices in those markets.”

The derivatives watchdog’s primary concern is the potential for market abuse in less-observed, off-peak activity, contending that “extending trading hours to a 24/7 schedule for certain markets or products could potentially result in reduced liquidity, increased volatility, widened bid/ask spreads, and, as a result, create greater opportunities for market manipulation.”

The platforms are responsible for policing themselves as the first line of defense and “should implement additional compliance measures designed to address the unique challenges associated with expanded trading hours.”

The advisory was meant to lay out the considerations for firms looking to expand trading hours, and the CFTC urged them to communicate their plans to the agency.

The current chief of the agency, Chairman Mike Selig, has made it one of his leading priorities to embrace new technologies including crypto and prediction markets. His enthusiasm for the advances — tracking the orders and encouragement from President Donald Trump — has led to a surge in crypto policy work meant to clear a regulatory path for the industry.

One of the crypto-native firms supervised by the CFTC, Coinbase, said in a blog post on its website on Friday that it’s trying to rebuild traditional financial services atop crypto infrastructure.

“Equities, futures, and prediction markets all operate 24/7 on our platform,” the company said, noting the agency’s new allowance of global options and perps through one of its CFTC-regulated affiliates. “Today’s announcement adds the largest and most liquid category of global crypto trading to that lineup.”

Ethereum is clinging to support near $1,800 as rising leverage, crowded longs, and persistent U.S. spot ETF outflows deepen downside risks for the second largest cryptocurrency.

Ethereum (ETH) price is extending a weak trend after losing the psychologically important $2,000 level, with market focus now locked on whether bulls can defend the $1,800–$1,750 support area.

According to on chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, analyst PelinayPA noted that Ethereum’s estimated leverage ratio remains elevated at roughly 0.74, while funding rates have stayed positive since April, a combination that signals “crowded long positions” even as prices continue to grind lower.

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The same analysis shows Ethereum’s relative strength index hovering near 31, indicating conditions are close to oversold but without “an effective rebound signal,” leaving spot price exposed if forced liquidations begin to cascade.

At the same time, U.S. spot Ethereum exchange traded funds have logged net outflows for 13 consecutive trading sessions, with roughly $695 million in capital pulled and a single day peak of around $121 million in redemptions, underscoring what the report describes as a “continued cooling of institutional allocation demand.”

ETF outflows and derivatives pressure converge

The mounting stress around the $1,800 level comes after weeks of structurally bearish signals in both spot and derivatives markets.crypto+1
A recent crypto.news analysis observed that Ethereum had already broken below an ascending channel on the daily chart, warning that MACD had turned bearish and that failure to hold supports near $2,080 could open the door to a swift move toward the $1,800 region.crypto

That same report cited CoinGlass estimates suggesting more than $1.7 billion in leveraged long positions could face liquidation if ETH fell below roughly $2,044, a level now decisively lost as intraday price action grinds closer to the $1,800 line in the sand.crypto
In parallel, flows data compiled by CryptoSlate show that combined Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have seen nearly $2.7 billion in net redemptions over the past two weeks, with allocators rotating into niche products tied to Solana, XRP, and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token instead.cryptoslate

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Key support at $1,800 becomes sentiment pivot

Within this backdrop, ChainCatcher’s summary stresses that “short term risks are skewed to the downside,” arguing that Ethereum currently “maintains a weak structure against the backdrop of high leverage, crowded long positions, and ongoing ETF outflows,” making the $1,800 support “a key observation point for market sentiment and technical aspects.”

That language echoes earlier commentary from crypto.news, which described $1,800 as a “psychological floor” that traders have been defending for more than a month, warning that “a drop below this key structural pivot point could trigger more downside, especially considering the stressed macro environment.”

Recent coverage on crypto.news also underlined that Ethereum still trades below a crucial $2,500 resistance cluster and that a weekly close under roughly $1,850 would likely accelerate volatility toward lower range boundaries.
At press time in the ChainCatcher report, Ethereum was quoted around $2,019, but price action has been defined less by spot demand than by the slow bleed of ETF capital and a derivatives market where funding and leverage remain stubbornly tilted long even as the chart breaks down.

For now, the question facing traders is brutally simple: can Ethereum absorb yet another wave of ETF outflows and defend $1,800 without triggering the kind of liquidation cascade that the derivatives data are clearly primed for.

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Mark Cuban has dumped most of his Bitcoin, calling it “not the hedge I expected” as the Iran war and dollar volatility exposed what he sees as a failed safe haven narrative.

“I always thought it was a better version of gold than gold,” Cuban said. “But gold just blew up and went to $5,000. Bitcoin dropped.”
“This might get some people upset,” he added. “I think Bitcoin has lost the plot.”

Cuban’s hedge thesis breaks, but the data fights back

According to the Bitcoin (BTC) price page from crypto.news, BTC recently hovered in the mid $70,000s, reinforcing that the asset has recovered sharply from early conflict lows even if it remains below its peak.

Cuban’s own positioning underscores the reversal. Heading into 2026, he said his crypto portfolio was roughly 60% Bitcoin, 30% Ethereum and 10% other tokens, a structure he previously justified by calling BTC “a better store of value asset than gold.”
Now he says he still holds Ethereum for its “utility” while dismissing most altcoins as “junk,” effectively recasting Bitcoin as the disappointment in a portfolio he once described as anchored by BTC.

War, inflation and the safe haven narrative

The clash between Cuban’s experience and the data comes as the broader market reassesses what, exactly, Bitcoin hedges.
As crypto.news has previously reported in its coverage of how Bitcoin outperforms gold by roughly 36% since the Iran war began, BTC has behaved less like a classic “panic bid” asset and more like a high beta macro instrument that still managed to beat traditional havens over the war’s first months.

In its own report on Cuban’s remarks, crypto.news noted that “Bitcoin defenders” argue the billionaire cherry picked the worst window: BTC did sell off on initial Iran headlines, but from the first signs of conflict it has risen more than 16%, while gold has sagged.
Fortune similarly observed that “since the start of the war, the original cryptocurrency is up about 7%, and on Wednesday was trading at around $71,000,” even as gold drifted near $5,240 per ounce.

Cuban’s broader skepticism comes after years of vocal support, including a 2021 podcast appearance where he revealed that 60% of his crypto holdings were in Bitcoin and insisted he would “never sell it for anything” because it was superior to gold as a store of value.
With that stance now reversed, his sale has become a Rorschach test for the market: either a high profile confirmation that the “digital gold” story is broken, or, as some traders suggest and as earlier crypto.news coverage of Bitcoin’s performance during crises implies, an exquisitely mistimed capitulation top in a still evolving hedge narrative.

Other crypto.news reporting on war driven flows into gold tokenization and renewed institutional interest in Ethereum suggests that the safe haven debate is fragmenting across assets rather than converging on a single “digital bunker.”
For now, Cuban’s verdict is blunt: Bitcoin, he says, “lost the plot” – even as the numbers stubbornly refuse to give him the clean failure he thinks he saw in real time.

Bitcoin has clawed back losses to trade near $74,000 after President Donald Trump abruptly announced an end to the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, easing weeks of geopolitical pressure on crypto and oil markets.

In a Truth Social post, US President announced the end of the Hormuz naval blockade, spurring a reaction from crypto and stock markets around the world.

Bitcoin (BTC) erased a multi day slide and reclaimed roughly $74,000 on Friday after Trump declared that the U.S. Navy’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz “has ended,” drawing a line under a standoff that had repeatedly whipsawed the world’s largest cryptocurrency since early April.

The move marks a sharp reversal from mid April, when Bitcoin briefly plunged toward $71,000 after Trump first ordered the naval blockade and oil prices spiked on fears that a fifth of global seaborne crude could be choked off.

On Friday, traders treated the end of the blockade as an all clear signal to rotate back into risk, unwinding some of the “war premium” that had built up in both crude and crypto options markets, with Bitcoin spot leading the bounce.

Trump blinks on Hormuz

Trump’s announcement caps weeks of brinkmanship that began when he ordered U.S. forces to “blockade the Strait of Hormuz” after peace talks with Iran collapsed in early April, a decision that immediately knocked Bitcoin from the mid $73,000s toward $71,000 and sent oil above $100 per barrel.

As the standoff dragged on, Washington insisted that “freedom of navigation” for non Iranian vessels would be preserved even as Iranian ships and ports remained under pressure, a nuance that helped Bitcoin bounce back above $72,000 once traders realized the blockade would be partial rather than absolute.

According to one U.S. briefing cited by market commentary, the administration calculated that closing the waterway entirely could cost Iran “about $500 million a day in revenue,” underscoring how much economic leverage was at stake as both sides postured over the channel.

Bitcoin’s geopolitical stress test

The end of the blockade comes after a month in which Bitcoin repeatedly proved resilient to Middle East headlines, refusing to sustain breaks below $70,000 even as Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power plants if Hormuz was not reopened within 48 hours and later rejected Tehran’s “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE” counterproposal on a broader peace plan.

In mid April, BTC briefly traded above $74,000 as Iran signaled it would keep the strait open and a tentative ceasefire took hold, with one market note flagging spot led buying and a realized price near $74,000 as evidence that structural demand remained intact despite war risk.

Earlier this month, Bitcoin even whipsawed around $82,000 after Trump rebuffed a new Iranian offer and vowed the blockade would continue “UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE,” a post that triggered roughly $410 million in short liquidations in 24 hours as BTC first slid, then snapped higher.

Crypto’s latest relief rally now shifts attention back to macro and structural drivers that had been overshadowed by Hormuz: exchange traded fund flows, halvingside supply dynamics and the broader debate over whether Bitcoin is behaving more like digital gold or a high beta proxy on risk assets as it chops between the high $60,000s and mid $80,000s.

In recent weeks, crypto.news has tracked how Bitcoin held near $80,000 after Trump rejected an earlier Iran proposal, as well as how BTC steadied when Iran moved to “fully reopen” Hormuz even while the U.S. blockade on Iranian ships remained in force, and how the token continues to trade each ceasefire headline “by headline.”

With the naval blockade now formally lifted and BTC back around $74,000, the next test for bulls is whether the market can finally escape its war zone range and re focus on domestic U.S. policy battles over initiatives like Trump’s Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and the longer term institutional bid underneath the price.

TLDR:

• Midnight Network went live on March 30, 2026, with nine institutional-grade nodes producing blocks in a federated phase.
• Six dApp proposals merged between May 8–19, spanning DeFi, medical consent, and supply-chain traceability use cases.
• Compact DSL compiles TypeScript-like contract code directly into ZK circuits, enabling three programmable disclosure modes per dApp.
• Two stablecoin proposals are under review, which are critical for enabling functional trading pairs on already-approved DEX platforms.

Midnight Network is redefining blockchain privacy through a programmable disclosure model that moves beyond the traditional binary approach.

Rather than forcing projects to choose between full transparency or complete shielding, the Cardano partner chain allows contracts to specify exactly which data fields are visible and to whom.

Since mainnet launched on March 30, 2026, in a federated phase, the network has already merged six third-party dApp deployment requests across key sectors including DeFi, healthcare, and supply-chain management.

Midnight’s Technical Architecture Enables Selective Data Visibility

The network runs on three core components that work together to enable this disclosure model. Compact, a TypeScript-like domain-specific language, compiles contract source directly into zero-knowledge circuits.

The Kachina protocol processes private state transitions off-chain and submits only the ZK proof to the ledger. A dual-state ledger then maintains public and shielded state in separate stores.

This structure supports three disclosure modes within a single contract. Data can be committed openly to the chain as public, decrypted by specified parties through auditor mode, or kept entirely private with only a ZK proof visible.

All three modes are already active on midnight.city, the official AI-agent simulation running since February 26, 2026.

The network also separates its token functions deliberately. NIGHT handles value and governance, while DUST is a shielded, non-transferable resource covering transaction fees.

This keeps operational costs out of counterparty visibility and removes MEV as a structural concern for institutional flows.

Nine institutional-grade nodes currently produce blocks: Google Cloud, MoneyGram, Vodafone’s Pairpoint division, eToro, Worldpay, Bullish, AlphaTON Capital, Blockdaemon, and Shielded Technologies.

Decentralization will follow in subsequent phases as Cardano stake pool operators begin producing blocks for both networks.

dApp Deployment Pipeline Reflects Diverse Real-World Use Cases

Between May 8 and 19, 2026, six dApp proposals merged into the Midnight Improvement Proposal repository. These covered a spot order-book DEX, a hybrid AMM DEX, a perpetuals contract, a medical consent registry, an ambassador directory, and a fishery traceability log.

Four more proposals remain under review, including two stablecoins, one NFT project, and one payment application.

Each proposal undergoes a risk assessment across three axes: Privacy-at-risk, Value-at-risk, and State-space-at-risk.

The gyotak fishery traceability contract scored 1/1/1 across all three, committing hashes of GPS, photo, and species data per catch.

NexiFuse, the medical consent registry, scored 2 on the privacy axis since consent graph leakage remains regulated PII.

The two stablecoin proposals currently under review are particularly relevant. The merged DEXs require a stable unit of account before meaningful trading pairs can function. This points toward composability as the next development layer taking shape on the network.

Analytical tooling for ZK circuit correctness, metadata boundaries, and off-chain trust models is developing alongside these first dApps, positioning Midnight for regulated finance and healthcare workloads at scale.

• DEXE rose more than 11% intraday to trade above $19.16, with a 32% weekly gain.
• Daily trading volume climbed about 38% to nearly $40 million, suggesting accumulation.
• Technical support sits at $15, while bulls could target $24 or higher next.

DeXe (DEXE) rallied sharply on Friday, climbing toward the $20 mark as buying pressure intensified across major exchanges.

The spike in volume and a string of weekly gains have drawn renewed attention from traders and analysts, who are assessing whether the asset can extend its advance or if profit-taking will cap further upside.

DeXe price rises 11% amid volume spike

DeXe price jumped more than 11% to trade above $19.16 after a strong intraday advance, propelling DEXE onto CoinMarketCap’s list of top weekly movers.

The token’s 24-hour performance contributed to a one-week rally that saw DeXe gain roughly 32%, placing it among the market’s notable gainers.

Other top performers included Stellar (+42%), Humanity (+23%), and Injective (+21%). DeXe has also climbed more than 58% over the past month.

The latest gains coincided with a notable increase in on-chain and exchange activity, with daily trading volume rising roughly 38% to around $40 million.

The surge in volume suggests growing accumulation, with buyers stepping in at key levels.

The combination of rising prices and stronger trading activity supports the case for continued near-term momentum and positions DEXE to challenge higher resistance zones if bullish sentiment persists.

DEXE price analysis

The technical outlook for DeXe shows the token testing levels last seen in March 2025, marking a return to multi-month highs.

Moving averages continue to support the broader uptrend. The 50-day simple moving average (SMA) is currently acting as a dynamic support level, while the 100-day SMA sits lower and provides a deeper technical cushion for holders.

Key resistance remains near $20, followed by a more significant barrier around $24. These zones could attract profit-taking from short-term traders and may act as hurdles for further upside.

On the downside, initial support is located near $15, a level that aligns with previous consolidation and areas of intraday demand.

Stronger support is positioned near the 50-day SMA around $12.84 and the 100-day SMA near $9.17. A sustained decline toward those levels would signal weakening bullish momentum and could trigger increased selling pressure.

For bulls to maintain control, DEXE would need to close decisively above the $20 resistance area while sustaining elevated trading volume, reducing the risk of a rapid retracement.

However, if the token fails to break above $20 and sellers regain control, the rally could lose momentum quickly.

A rise in sell-side volume would increase the likelihood of a pullback toward the $15 support zone.