Bitcoin Slides Under $96K as Ether’s Rally Loses Steam, Dragging Crypto Markets Lower

Ether’s Brief Rally to $2,850 Fades as Crypto Markets Slide, Bitcoin Drops Below $96K

Ethereum’s ether (ETH) made a strong push to $2,850 on Monday, briefly outperforming the broader crypto market before retreating, as overall sentiment weakened. Bitcoin (BTC) followed suit, slipping below $96,000 amid cautious trading.

The rally saw ETH surge 7% in a relatively quiet session due to the U.S. holiday. However, the momentum quickly faded, with ether sliding back to $2,730 and bitcoin dropping to $95,500 from just above $97,000. The CoinDesk 20 Index and BTC both ended down about 2%, while ETH managed to hold onto a modest 2% gain over the past 24 hours.

Traders noted similarities to previous price action, particularly in late January and early February, when ether staged a rapid 10% climb to $3,400 before tumbling 35% to nearly $2,000. That pullback coincided with a broader sell-off in crypto, driven by macroeconomic concerns.

This time, the market remains on edge as speculative memecoin trading creates waves. Argentina’s LIBRA token and the Binance Smart Chain-based BROCCOLI coin—named after former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao’s dog—have drawn significant attention, sparking liquidity shifts that some traders believe contributed to ETH’s move.

Aran Hawker, CEO of CoinPanel, described ether’s rally as more of a technical correction than a meaningful shift in market direction.

“ETH isn’t leading—this is more of a catch-up move,” Hawker told CoinDesk via Telegram. “Funds are likely rotating out of Solana and into ETH, but unless this move is sustained, it could be erased just as quickly.”

Joel Kruger, a strategist at LMAX Group, took a more bullish view, suggesting that ether’s price action might signal the end of its multi-year downtrend against bitcoin.

“There’s evidence that ETH could be bottoming out against BTC after years of underperformance,” Kruger wrote in a market update. “A sustained break above recent highs could confirm a shift in momentum.”

Meanwhile, data from CoinGlass showed rising trader interest in ether relative to bitcoin. Open interest in ETH futures jumped 12% over the past 24 hours to 9.27 million contracts—worth roughly $2.6 billion—led by offshore exchanges like Binance and Gate.io. BTC futures, in contrast, saw open interest rise just 1%.

With macroeconomic events and regulatory discussions looming, traders remain watchful to see whether ether can sustain its gains—or if this rally will once again be short-lived.