Ether came under heavy pressure on Friday, sliding below $3,100 as the broader crypto market faced another sharp downturn and bitcoin dipped under the $100,000 mark.
The second-largest cryptocurrency suffered a steep drop from Thursday to Friday, losing more than 10% from its intra-day high as selling intensified across digital assets. ETH fell from around $3,565 on Thursday to roughly $3,060 early Friday, wiping out the rebound seen over the past week. It later stabilized just under $3,200 but was still down about 8% on the day.
The decline mirrored weakness across U.S. markets, where stocks and bonds slipped alongside cryptos. Market liquidity remained strained following the recently concluded U.S. government shutdown, while growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will hold rates steady in December added to the cautious mood.
Since the Fed’s late-October meeting—when Chair Jerome Powell signaled that rate cuts were unlikely in the near term—U.S.-listed spot ether ETFs have registered approximately $1.4 billion in net redemptions, Farside Investors data shows. Thursday’s nearly $260 million outflow was the largest single-day withdrawal in four weeks.
Selling pressure has also intensified among long-standing ETH holders. Glassnode data indicates that investors holding coins for three to ten years have been distributing roughly 45,000 ETH per day on a 90-day average—valued at around $140 million—the fastest pace of long-term selling since February 2021.
Network indicators have weakened as well. Ethereum’s monthly active addresses have declined to 8.2 million from more than 9 million in September, while total transaction fees over the past month have plunged 42% to $27 million, according to Token Terminal.
