Ethereum price today: $2,090

• Ethereum's open interest has climbed to 13.67M ETH, its highest level since late January.
• Whale wallets and ETH ETF investors have been accumulating so far in the week.
• ETH sees a rejection at the 50-day EMA after a recent price jump.

Ethereum's (ETH) open interest (OI) on Friday has surged to 13.67M ETH, its highest level since January 30 and the same levels as the pre-October leverage flush. Open interest is the total worth of outstanding contracts in a derivatives market.

Despite prices trading rangebound over the past month, ETH's OI has been steadily rising, indicating an expanding appetite among investors. However, funding rates have alternated between positive and negative territory during the period, suggesting OI growth isn't entirely driven by bullish or bearish positioning.

Historically, a rising OI under such conditions has led to a sharp directional move.

The Net Taker Volume on Binance, which measures the volume of investors purchasing ETH futures contracts using market orders, has flipped positive since the beginning of the month. The move indicates that longs are once again dominating ETH futures on Binance, though the dominance hasn't yet expanded.

On the spot side, whales or wallets holding 10K-100K ETH have been accumulating since the beginning of the week, adding 540K ETH to their holdings over the past five days. But retailers in the 100-1K and 1K-10K ETH bracket distributed a combined 300K ETH in the same period.

Meanwhile, the ETH Coinbase Premium Index, which has largely correlated with price movements over the past few months, has risen to its highest level since early December, indicating rising interest from US investors. Similarly, US spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have recorded three consecutive days of net inflows totaling $185.4 million from Tuesday to Thursday, according to SoSoValue data.

Ethereum Price Forecast: ETH faces rejection at 50-day EMA, falls back below $2,166 resistance

Ethereum recorded $139.8 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, led by $95.5 million in short liquidations, per Coinglass data.

After holding the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), ETH briefly broke above the $2,166 resistance before seeing a rejection at the 50-day EMA, framing the recent move as a bounce within a larger downtrend. The top altcoin has to rise above the 50-day EMA to test $2,370, then eventually the 100-day EMA and $2,750 resistance.

On the downside, ETH is supported by the 20-day EMA, which a break below would expose the $1,800 support and eventually $1,480.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 52 and a rising Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) in the mid-60s confirm improving upside momentum after the mid-month rebound, suggesting buyers retain control as long as ETH defends its recent higher lows around the $1,950–1,970 area.