Ether's Wild Ride: What's Next for the Cryptocurrency?

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, is currently hovering around $3, 300. But before it can make a big jump, it might take a small dip. This is because of something called the Leverage Ratio, which is near 0. 60. In the past, when this number was this high, Ether would drop a bit, then go up by 10% to 25%. But why would it drop first? Well, when there's a lot of leverage, it means people are taking big risks. When the price drops, these risky positions get wiped out. This is called a liquidation. After this cleanup, the price can then start to rise again. This pattern has happened before, in February, April, September, and November of 2025. Each time, a big spike in leverage was followed by a sudden drop, and then a strong rise. Right now, the Leverage Ratio is high, and it's not going down even as the price goes up. This means people are still taking big risks. This could lead to a big jump in price after a small dip.But not everyone is feeling confident. Even though Ether has been doing better than Bitcoin since January, the Spent-Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) is still below 1. This means that, overall, people are losing money on Ether. This shows that Ether holders are not as confident as Bitcoin holders. Ether recently reached its highest daily close since November 2025, at $3, 324. A 25% jump from here would put it above $4, 100. But before that can happen, there might be a small dip. Looking at the daily chart, Ether formed an order block between $3, 050 and $3, 170 during its recent rise. This is a price range where a lot of trading happened. The price might go back to this level, as it's a fair value where buyers and sellers agreed on the price. Supporting this idea, data shows that there are a lot of long positions between $3, 040 and $3, 100. This means that if the price goes down to this level, it could set the stage for a stronger rise afterward.