Ethereum finally broke out of the descending trendline that had capped it since the all-time high, pushing above $1,900 on Wednesday. The move came as futures open interest across all exchanges surged to $19.8 billion on July 14 — the highest since June 3 — and a whale trader piled into a $24.3 million long at 25x leverage. ETH changed hands near $1,928 at press time, up 5.2% in the last 24 hours.
Whale bets big on the breakout
The whale known as Machi Big Brother opened a $24.3 million ETH long position with 25x leverage, according to on-chain data. The trade puts his liquidation price at $1,833 — roughly 5% below current levels. That's a tight margin for a leveraged bet, but it signals conviction that the rally has legs. The timing aligns with a broader shift in futures market dynamics: long liquidations dominance fell to 4%, its lowest level in a year, meaning 96% of all liquidated positions were shorts. That's a sharp reversal from late June, when open interest had collapsed to around $15.5 billion and longs were getting wiped out.
Technical levels and the volume question
The bounce originated inside a long-term green demand zone that has held as support four times since early 2023. That zone coincides with the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement of the entire cycle at $1,754 — a level that also aligns with an ascending trendline drawn from the June 2022 bottom. The daily RSI broke its own descending trendline (drawn from July 2025) and now sits just below 65. But volume has been declining during the recovery, so the breakout lacks confirmation from participation. A confirmed daily close above the $1,900–$2,000 resistance zone on rising volume could open the path toward the next major resistance at $2,438 — the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement.
Immediate resistance sits between $1,900 and $2,000. If that zone holds as support on a retest, the rally could accelerate. On the downside, $1,754 is the critical support to watch. Losing it would expose the trendline near $1,600. Meanwhile, the ETH/BTC ratio is showing early signs of a broader Ethereum comeback — a development that traders are watching closely after months of underperformance relative to bitcoin.
