Ethereum Price Skyrockets 18% Amid Liquidation Event and ETF Inflows

The price of Ethereum (ETH) in USD skyrocketed by approximately 18% over the past 24 hours. This sudden surge was largely driven by an increase in notional open interest, which rose to around $310 million. Meanwhile, the contract count on ETHUSD spot CFD grew by about 1,475 units, equivalent to approximately $3.34 million.

A high-profile liquidation event occurred when a Hyperliquid ENS-linked trader was forced out of a short position worth 50,000 ETH, resulting in losses of around $26.66 million for the affected party. This incident triggered an immediate unwind that took roughly 12 seconds to complete and left Hyperliquid's backstop covering approximately 1,417 ETH.

The price fluctuations had a ripple effect on ETH spot CFD pricing. On the other hand, whales (holders of at least 1,000 ETH) decreased their holdings by around 1.7 million ETH since May 20. In contrast, small-wallet holders with between 1 and 10 ETH saw their share rise to 4.52%. As a result, exchange balances fell from approximately 7.07 million to around 6.54 million ETH.

The increased trading activity also led to significant inflows of $220 million into ETF-linked investments in spot ETHUSD on August 20. BlackRock contributed the largest amount at $173 million, followed by ETHB with $35.9 million and Fidelity with $5.8 million. Bitwise and VanEck also made notable contributions of $2.8 million and $1.7 million, respectively.