After falling more than 20% on Friday, Ethereum returned above $4,100 on Sunday, partially recovering losses caused by the sharp liquidation of long positions worth nearly $3.8 billion. There are several signs in the markets that the correction may be over.
Extreme funding rates signal tension
Funding for Ethereum futures contracts has fallen to -14%, forcing bearish traders to pay to hold short positions. Such an extreme situation does not usually last long and indicates that the market is under strong pressure.
There are growing concerns in the markets that some market makers or even exchanges themselves may have liquidity problems. There is also uncertainty surrounding possible compensation for losses caused by errors in margin systems and oracle data. Binance has so far promised $283 million in compensation, with other cases still being evaluated. The biggest impact was felt by wrapped tokens and synthetic stablecoins, whose value plummeted by up to half in a matter of minutes.
Futures are recovering faster than expected
Monthly futures contracts absorbed the price shock within two hours and returned to a 5% premium over spot markets. Weaker interest in leveraged long positions thus points more to structural limits than to a decline in confidence. Nevertheless, it may take weeks for liquidity and certainty in the derivatives markets to fully recover.
Data from Deribit shows that the options markets are not panicking. Trading volume remains at normal levels, and interest in put options is even lower than in call options. This suggests that the Ethereum market remains balanced and that investors still believe in its stability.
