ETH stalls at $2.5K as hawkish Fed remarks weigh on momentum
Ethereum (ETH)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
bitcoinethereumnews.com reports that Ethereum’s rally has stalled near $2.5K after breaking out from a $1.85K-$1.92K base. Price action is now choppy as the asset tests the $2.4K-$2.52K supply zone where buyers have struggled to push higher. This repeated rejection suggests weakening short-term structure and a potential consolidation or pullback.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh delivered hawkish remarks at Jackson Hole, stating that inflation remains too elevated. He suggested rates may need to stay restrictive or rise if progress toward the 2% objective is insufficient. Markets interpreted these comments as a reason to expect another rate increase, which is weighing on risk sentiment.
Ethereum has formed three successive peaks in the resistance zone, creating a potential three-drive pattern that signals momentum loss. The asset has also slipped below an ascending trendline connecting recent higher lows. The first support zone sits between $2.21K and $2.31K, with a secondary level at $2.06K-$2.14K if selling accelerates. The Spot Average Order Size chart shows normal order activity, indicating no dominant whale demand or supply is currently driving the market.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for ETH, measured when this story was written up on 29 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
ETH is trading at $2,442.80 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 64.9% and a 4-hour buy ratio of 54.1%, indicating strong short-term buying pressure. However, the 24-hour buy ratio has dropped to 46.3%, showing that buying interest is fading over the longer timeframe. The 1-hour volume delta is positive at +$5,416,772, while the 4-hour delta is +$2,508,788, contrasting with a negative 24-hour delta of -$65,711,416. This divergence suggests that while recent trades are favoring buyers, the cumulative flow over the last day has been net selling. The CVD for the 24-hour close is -$59,227,031, confirming that sellers have dominated the daily volume of $893,198,251. Net buying has occurred for only 12 of the last 24 hours, highlighting a shift in momentum from the broader trend.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.8% sits at the 16th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.5% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What ETH did over the 23 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for ETH, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.8%, compared to a 46.3% ratio in the last 24 hours, a difference of 4.5 percentage points. This indicates that the current day is slightly less bullish than the weekly average. Volume for the period was 0.85x the average, suggesting lower-than-normal trading activity. The asset saw net buying on 5 of the last 7 days, with a total 8-day volume delta of +$119,917,358. The price has declined by 2.9% over the 8-day period, reflecting the broader corrective pressure despite the recent short-term buy ratio spike.