ETH Traders Favor Puts As Bearish Data Spooks Investors

Key takeaways:

• ETH futures liquidations reached $224 million after a 9% price drop, while the network’s onchain activity fell to a 12-month low.

• ETH’s high correlation with Bitcoin and massive outflows from exchange-traded funds suggest further downside risk for Ether price.

Ether (ETH) plunged to $1,800 on Tuesday, wiping out $224 million in leveraged bullish positions over 48 hours. This 14% price slide over the last 10 days has left top traders defensive. Options and futures data, sluggish onchain activity, and steady outflows from Ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) all point to a shaky floor at $1,800.

After demand for put (sell) and call (buy) options stayed fairly balanced from Monday through Saturday, things shifted quickly on Tuesday. The ETH put-to-call volume premium jumped to 2.2x, showing a sudden scramble for downside protection. While some might have sold puts to bet on a price bounce, the broader market seems to be bracing for more volatility.

The options delta skew (put-call) sat at 18% on Tuesday, meaning puts were trading at a clear premium. This lopsided demand shows that hedging is the priority right now. There is a real lack of confidence here, even with ETH sitting 63% below its all-time high. A lot of this frustration stems from weak onchain metrics.

The total value locked (TVL) on Ethereum has slipped to $51 billion, which is the lowest level seen since May 2025. With fewer deposits hitting decentralized applications (DApps), network fees have taken a hit to $13.7 million over the last 30 days. That is a far cry from the $33 million average seen in late 2025. Traders are worried that ETH demand for data processing won’t return anytime soon.

Even though it was expected, the recent $7 million in ETH sales linked to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin did little to improve sentiment. The Ethereum co-founder earmarked 16,384 ETH of his personal holdings in January as donations to fund privacy-focused technologies, open source hardware and secure, verifiable software systems. Still, the optics of the move added another layer of bearish pressure to an already shaky week.

Outflows from Ether ETFs have only made things worse for investor sentiment. Usually, this kind of movement means institutional players are losing interest.

Related: Longest Ether dip since 2022 ignored by whales–What’s next for ETH?

The US-listed Ether ETFs have seen $405 million in net outflows since Feb. 11, which has pushed total assets under management down to $12.4 billion. This shift happened right as gold prices climbed above $5,150. In fact, gold ETFs pulled in $822 million in the week ending Feb. 20, according to gold.org. 

Ether’s weak onchain and derivatives data is not determinative. However, the fact that whales and market makers seem to be bracing for more downside definitely fuels the bearish mood. Ether’s price is also stuck to Bitcoin (BTC) right now as the assets’ 20-day correlation has stayed above 95% for the last three weeks.

The ETH drop to $1,800 has created a feedback loop, where traders are still guessing at what is really driving this crypto bear market. That uncertainty is forcing traders to sell at a loss, and the situation may not change while professional traders display fear. Until those derivatives metrics stabilize, the odds of ETH sliding further are still on the table.