ETHFI Slumps as Whale Outflows Drive Price Down

Ether.fi (ETHFI) has continued its downward trend over the past 24 hours, losing double-digit percentages in value. This decline is part of a larger multi-week slump for the asset, which has dropped by 17% over the last 90 days and 65% on a one-year basis.

The recent slide in ETHFI's price comes despite solid on-chain performance tied to capital flow. However, derivatives have driven most of the decline through capital and positioning. The Funding Rate plummeted to -0.0101%, a level last seen in April, indicating that short positions dominate the perpetual Open Interest.

A negative Funding Rate means that more than 50% of the $57.33 million in contract value now bets on capturing gains from a falling price. This is reflected in the liquidation data over the past 24 hours, which shows that long traders lost significantly more than short traders, $342,009 compared to $15,480.

The whale-retail delta, which tracks the split between these groups, puts whales firmly in control. Whales have been driving the decline, with outflows indicating a commitment to this path until something forces a change. This is significant, as whales tend to dominate retail investors and have already fed the asset's underwhelming performance for most of the year.

Spot netflow points to heavier selling across multiple windows, with a netflow of $2.2 million over the last 30 days. However, capital keeps flowing strongly on the on-chain side of the market, with DeFiLlama data reporting $261 million worth of ETHFI flowed into the protocol from July 20 to date, lifting TVL to around $3.484 billion.