Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH Erases Trump’s Tariff Pause Gains Following Whale Selling

Ethereum [ETH] slipped to $1,540 on Friday, giving up much of the gains earned earlier this week following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff pause. Despite an initial 11% rally, bearish pressure from ETH whales and weak macro sentiment have reversed Ethereum’s short-term momentum. Whales used the recent bounce to offload tens of thousands of ETH, triggering fresh liquidation across futures markets and raising doubts about the sustainability of the recovery.

Whales Cash Out as ETH Rally Stalls

Shortly after Trump’s announcement of a temporary halt on new trade tariffs, Ethereum surged to a local high of $1,682. However, that momentum quickly faded as macroeconomic reality set in. The Trump administration later clarified that a 10% base tariff still applies, dampening optimism and reinforcing risk-off sentiment across the crypto market. In the past 24 hours, over 47,000 ETH were sold by dormant addresses and DeFi participants. One long-term whale sold 10,702 ETH acquired at just $8, while another dumped nearly 8,000 ETH after three years of inactivity.

Additionally, a DeFi whale repaid a debt by selling nearly 29,000 ETH. These actions brought whale holdings between 10K–100K ETH to a five-month low of 24.66 million ETH, per Santiment data. This marked a depletion of 1.18 million ETH in just six weeks, clearly reflecting that high-net-worth holders are exiting during rallies rather than accumulating.

ETH Drops to Test Key Support Near $1,500

Ethereum’s pullback has erased 6% from its recent peak. It now hovers just above the critical $1,500 support, a level that has served as a pivotal zone for bulls and bears over the past month. Per Coinglass, the 24-hour futures market saw $88.75 million in ETH liquidations, including $66.64 million in long positions. This indicates that many traders were caught off guard by the sudden reversal.

Should the $1,522 level fail to hold, Ethereum could revisit the lower boundary of its four-month-long descending channel, which currently sits closer to $1,450. A clean breakdown below that could send ETH spiraling toward the $1,000–$1,100 support range — the same zone tested during the FTX collapse and the Terra UST implosion in 2022.

Outlook: Ethereum’s Fate Rests on Technical Levels

Ethereum’s technical indicators on the weekly chart flash warning signs. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is approaching oversold territory, the MACD is printing a bearish divergence, and the Stochastic Oscillator is trending down. That said, ETH remains in a macro consolidation pattern. 

If bulls can defend the descending channel’s lower boundary and reclaim momentum, the next upside target lies at $1,800, which aligns with the channel’s top and former resistance zones. A weekly candle close above this range would invalidate the bearish outlook and signal the start of a new recovery phase.