Key Takeaways
Ethereum tagged a fresh all-time high at $4,953, with futures OI shooting up to $71 billion. Leverage is flooding in, setting the stage for a big move either way.
Ethereum [ETH] is stepping into a pivotal week as September trading kicks off.
It is a month that’s historically been a drag, with an average 6.42% drawdown across past cycles.
Despite that backdrop, price action is pressing into fresh highs, with leverage stacking aggressively across Futures markets. Which is why how traders position here will be key in shaping Ethereum’s year-end target.
Leverage piles up as Ethereum tests resistance
Ethereum looks to be closing August on a high.
The altcoin snapped its three-year August slump with a 30% monthly rally, bouncing from $3,900 base, before ripping through $4,900 for the first time.
However, the move cooled off fast. ETH pulled back nearly 4% as about $130 million in longs got squeezed, while futures Open Interest (OI) spiked to $70 billion, showing just how extended leverage had become.
Source: CoinGlass
That backdrop makes positioning key for Ethereum’s Q4 path.
Why? Because throughout August, Ethereum has repeatedly cycled through leverage build-ups and sharp flushouts, moves that pressured price lower in the short term but didn’t derail the broader uptrend.
Case in point: In mid-August, OI overheated near $65 billion as ETH tapped $4,700. By the next week, OI had reset to $59 billion with ETH retesting $4k, before rebounding and ripping into a new all-time high.
Short-term squeezes, long-term momentum
Naturally, Ethereum’s liquidations looked more like resets than reversals.
This is significant. ETH’s weekly strength, averaging a 10% pop, is backed by solid spot accumulation and ETF inflows.
That 6.8% weekly jump to the ATH? Powered by a fat bid-side wall keeping the rally intact.
From a technical lens, this flipped seasonal weakness on its head, paving the way for a bullish stretch into the rest of Q3 and Q4. Meanwhile, in the short term, roughly $2.2 billion in shorts are at risk if ETH breaks $5,000.
Source: CoinGlass
Roadmap to year-end
Put simply, this trend reinforced Ethereum’s structural resilience.
With ETH clearing $4,900, the setup looks prime for an extended run. Hefty bid-side walls are keeping the uptrend alive, while short-term deleveraging clears out excess leverage instead of knocking price off track.
In this context, Ethereum could be targeting $15,000 by year-end, potentially delivering an average of around 50% monthly ROI.
