Ethereum (ETH) Price: ETH Surges Above $2,500 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Drive Rally

TLDR

ETH rose above $2,500 for the first time since mid-April, up 8% on Friday US spot ETH ETFs recorded $512.4 million in net inflows over four consecutive days Over $1.69 billion in short positions were liquidated over three days ETH futures volume hit $94.42 billion in 24 hours Traders are eyeing $3,000 as the next price target

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Ethereum climbed above $2,500 on Friday, reaching its highest level since mid-April. The move came after a 20% single-day surge on August 19, which Coin Bureau described as ETH’s largest one-day gain since May 2025.

Ethereum (ETH) Price

ETH gained 26.4% over seven days and 23.5% over 30 days. The token spent most of August trading below $2,000 before the breakout.

US spot Ethereum ETFs have been a key driver. The products recorded $220.7 million in net inflows on Thursday alone, bringing the four-day total to $512.4 million. Coin Bureau called this the biggest ETF inflow streak since September 2025.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Record $307 Million in Net Inflows on August 21, Extending Five-Day Streak

On August 21 (ET), spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net inflows of $307 million, marking five consecutive days of net inflows. Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded total net inflows of $185… pic.twitter.com/T4PAlN3ACr

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 22, 2026

The Coinbase Premium Index, which compares ETH prices on Coinbase Pro versus Binance, has been trending upward. It has not yet flipped positive, but the direction suggests improving US investor sentiment.

Short Squeeze Fuels the Move

Bearish traders were caught off-side. ETH short liquidations totalled $265 million in 24 hours and $1.69 billion over three days. In one 24-hour window, $237.44 million in shorts were liquidated versus $65.14 million in longs.

Forced buying from liquidated short positions adds demand to an already rising market, accelerating the move higher.

Futures open interest stood at $31.79 billion, with 24-hour futures volume reaching $94.42 billion. Binance led trading with $26.82 billion in volume, followed by OKX at $14.20 billion.

Long positioning remained dominant. The Binance ETH/USDT long/short ratio stood at 2.4, meaning long accounts were more than twice as numerous as short accounts.

Coin Bureau noted on X that ETH sentiment hit a three-month low just two days before the rally began, and that ETH remains 49% below its all-time high of $4,953 set in August 2025.

🚨BULLISH: Ethereum crosses $2,500 for the first time since March after surging 30% in five days.$ETH is up another 9% today.

It spent most of August stuck below $2,000.

The Aug 19 move was a 20% single-day surge, its largest since May 2025.

Spot ETH ETFs pulled in over $500… pic.twitter.com/Jh5sI21vTQ

— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 21, 2026

Traders Eye $3,000 Next

Trader Abbas Khan said $3,000 is the “next step” after ETH cleared $2,400. Trader CoinMamba argued ETH could move to $3,000 in a sharp candle. Trader SantinoCapitals also joined the bullish calls, though his longer-term $10,000 projection remains highly speculative.

$ETH is about to teleport to $3k in a single candle.

— CoinMamba (@coinmamba) August 21, 2026

ETH would need to gain roughly 23% from its August 21 high of $2,444 to reach $3,000.

On-chain data shows profit-taking has remained calm. The Network Realized Profit/Loss metric stayed low, and the Age Consumed metric showed long-term holders are not distributing at a rapid pace.

Technically, ETH trades above its 20, 50, 100, and 200-day EMAs. The RSI sits at 87 and the Stochastic Oscillator at 99, both in overbought territory. Key resistance sits at $2,431, $2,750, and $2,868.

ETH’s market cap stood at approximately $287.65 billion, with circulating supply near 120.68 million ETH.

The post Ethereum (ETH) Price: ETH Surges Above $2,500 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Drive Rally appeared first on CoinCentral.