Ethereum's price slipped to around $1,880 after struggling to break past the $2,000 mark. The cryptocurrency faced increased selling pressure as traders booked profits and market sentiment turned sour due to a sharp sell-off in U.S. technology stocks.
Data from crypto.news showed Ethereum (ETH) trading near $1,882, down roughly 3% in the last 24 hours after climbing to the $1,935 $1,950 range earlier this week. Sellers stepped in below the psychological $2,000 level and the 100-day exponential moving average, halting a rally that had started near $1,560 back in late June.
Tech Market Turmoil Weighs on Ether
The ripple effect from Wall Street’s tech sector was felt hard during Thursday’s session. The “Magnificent Seven” tech giants lost 4.8% of their value, erasing about $797 billion and marking their worst day since April 2025’s tariff-driven downturn. The broader S&P 500 slid 1.2%, and the Nasdaq 100 gave up 1.9%, according to CoinDesk.
Shares dropped sharply after Alphabet raised its capital-spending outlook for 2026 to up to $205 billion, while Tesla’s earnings came in below expectations. Investors grew cautious about whether returns on artificial intelligence investments would justify mounting costs, putting high-beta assets under pressure.
In this environment, Ethereum’s losses were steeper than Bitcoin’s, the latter maintaining a price close to $65,400 with less than a 1% dip. This divergence highlights investor wariness toward altcoins as capital pulled back from riskier bets.
Meanwhile, U.S. spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted $26.3 million in inflows on July 23, marking a fifth consecutive day of positive net contributions. BlackRock’s ETHA pulled in $8.5 million, Fidelity’s FETH added $14.9 million, and Grayscale’s smaller Ether fund gained $2.9 million, according to Farside Investors. However, ETF inflows slowed sharply from previous days and couldn't completely balance out spot market selling.
Institutional trading channels also expanded in Switzerland after BancaStato integrated Sygnum’s digital-asset infrastructure, enabling clients to trade Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and USD Coin directly through the bank’s platforms. This move adds a regulated distribution pathway for Ethereum in the region.
At the same time, derivatives traders ramped up exposure as Ether approached resistance levels. Open interest increased by 600,000 ETH over two days, reaching 14.6 million ETH the highest since early June. Funding rates, which had been positive most of July, briefly dipped into negative territory on Thursday, signaling growing caution among traders.
Ethereum’s price must hold above $1,850 to maintain a chance of rebounding towards $1,950 and possibly $2,060, analysts suggest. The current volatility shows the ongoing tug-of-war between investor optimism fueled by institutional interest and macro factors driving risk aversion.
