Ethereum recorded a sharp rebound, climbing from a multi-week base near $1,870 to $2,517 before easing to $2,460.08. Over a seven-day period, the token gained 31.20%, while 24-hour trading volume reached $15.96 billion according to data from Coingecko.
Market data indicates that the recent rally was primarily fueled by forced short covering rather than fresh spot buying. Short liquidations averaged $131.0 million over the week, marking a 1,514% increase week-over-week and sitting 437% above the 90-day average. In contrast, long liquidations remained 40% below their quarterly norm during the same period.
Derivatives markets reflected this shift, with Binance funding rates averaging 0.01. This represents a 25% increase from the previous week and a 95% rise above the quarterly baseline, marking the first sustained positive funding reading in several months and signaling renewed leverage building on the long side. Taker buy volume reached $5.49 billion, outpacing sell-side volume of $5.17 billion.
Network activity also shifted alongside the price movement. Base fees rose 189% week-over-week, while the dollar value of fees burnt jumped 251%. Total network fees increased 138%, concluding a two-month period of compressed activity on the chain.
Exchange deposit patterns revealed smaller and more fragmented flows. The seven-day mean inflow dropped to 16.1 ETH, a 40% decrease compared to the 90-day baseline, even as total inflows rose 101% week-over-week. Large whale-sized inflows were absent from the data, and netflow figures showed alternating swings, including a positive netflow of 51.2 thousand ETH on August 19 followed by a negative reading of 49.7 thousand ETH on August 20. Meanwhile, the Coinbase Premium stood at -0.02, representing its least negative level in recent weeks.
