Why is Ethereum (ETH) price up today?

Key takeaways:

• ETH price rebounds alongside Bitcoin and major altcoins as the US-China tariff war de-escalates.

• Short liquidations in the ETH Futures market.

• Renewed enthusiasm among derivatives traders.

• Ether price technical breakout has a target of $2,100.

Ether (ETH) rose on April 23, up 10% in the last 24 hours to trade at $1,795 amid increasing optimism over the de-escalation of the US-China tariff wars. Its daily trading volume has jumped by 67% to $26.6 billion, reinforcing the intensity of the demand-side activity.

Let’s closely examine the factors behind Ether’s bullishness today.

ETH rallies in tandem with broader crypto market

The bullish sentiment was not exclusive to Ether, as crypto prices also rallied across the board, triggered by easing tensions over the US-China trade wars.

Bitcoin (BTC), the market leader, is trading at $94,000, up 6.5% over the last 24 hours. Fourth-placed XRP (XRP) has gained more than 8% over the last day to trade just above $2.28. Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano (ADA) also posted significant gains among the top 10 cryptocurrencies.

On April 22, 2025, President Trump told reporters at the White House that US tariffs on Chinese goods “will come down substantially,” while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the US-China tariff standoff “unsustainable,” hinting at a potential resolution.

Reduced trade tensions often lead to increased investor confidence in riskier assets, as global economic stability encourages capital flow into cryptocurrencies.

“Macro risks remain, but one critical overhang appears to be cleared,” said trading firm QCP Capital in response to Trump’s supposed policy shift, adding:

“Trump is signaling no intention to replace Fed Chair Powell for now. The reassurance has prompted a modest pullback in long-end yields, helping reduce a key tail risk.”

$110M in short ETH positions liquidated

Ether’s bullishness on April 23 is accompanied by significant liquidations in the derivatives market, signaling strong upward pressure.

Over $109 million worth of short ETH positions have been liquidated over the last 24 hours, compared to $22 million in long liquidations.

Bearish traders’ positions are forcibly closed when short positions are liquidated.

The scale of these liquidations mirrors the March 19 liquidation event, when a total of $72.29 million in short ETH positions were wiped out. This accompanied a 13% rise in price from a low of $1,840 to a ten-day high of $2,020 on the same day.

Related: Ethereum Foundation shifts focus to user experience, layer-1 scaling

Ether’s open interest (OI) has jumped by 16% from $18.87 billion to $21.92 billion over the last 24 hours, indicating increased trading activity in the derivatives market. 

Positive funding rates in ETH perpetual futures markets are also a bullish sign. Funding rates represent the periodic payments exchanged between long and short-position holders. This metric has increased from -0.0018% on April 21 to $0.007% at the time of writing.

Increasing OI and positive funding rates mean more capital is entering the market, which can boost the price increase as buying pressure builds up.

ETH price must hold above $1.6K — Analyst

Ether’s price traded in a tight $200 range between April 9 and April 22, as shown in the four-hour chart below. ETH’s 17% rally over the last two days saw the altcoin finally break out of this consolidation on April 22.

A successful retest of the upper limit of this range at $1,700 confirmed the breakout, and the price breached the 200-period simple moving average (SMA) at $1,751 during the early Asian trading hours on April 23.

As such, the ETH trades above all the major moving averages in the four-hour timeframe, reinforcing the intensity of the ongoing recovery.

Now, the bulls are focused on the April 2 range high at $1,950 and, thereafter, the $2,100 resistance level.

Conversely, the RSI is at 78, which shows that ETH is “overbought,” suggesting that a pullback might be in the cards as buyer exhaustion sets in.

If this happens, ETH may drop back into the $1,500 and $1,700 range, where it could trade for a few more days before establishing any directional bias.

For popular analyst Rekt Capital, Ether was required to hold the area above $1,600 to sustain the upward momentum.

“Ethereum is holding the bottom of the light blue historical demand area as support, repeating history also by wicking briefly below it,” the analyst wrote in part of a caption accompanying Ether’s monthly chart.

Rekt Capital was referring to the area between $1,600 and $2,000, within which ETH price oscillated for over eight months between April 2023 and November 2023 before rallying 126% to $4,093 in March 2024. 

“Ethereum needs to keep holding here,” Rekt Capital said, adding that if the price stability can be sustained, there is a chance that the altcoin could stage a similar recovery as the one seen in early 2024.

As Cointelegraph reported, Ether’s price still needs to overcome the 50-day SMA currently sitting at $1,830 to clear the path toward $2,100.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.