Ethereum jumps 15% to $2,200 on $2.55B taker buy surge

Ethereum rose 15 percent to $2,200 on Aug. 19, reclaiming its highest level since May as taker buy volume reached $2.55 billion in a single hour.

"Buyers have suddenly started showing a willingness to pay a premium again," MorenoDV, a CryptoQuant contributor, wrote on Aug. 19, noting the scale has been rarely seen over the past six months.

The $2.55 billion hourly taker buy volume ranked as the third-largest reading in roughly 193 days, behind $3.69 billion on Feb. 7 and $2.67 billion on March 23. Large entities emerged on the buy side as ETH cleared $2,200, with reported purchases including Binance buying 200,380 ETH, Wintermute 192,617 ETH, Moonwell 165,934 ETH, Coinbase 115,204 ETH, and OKX 97,180 ETH.

The immediate upside barrier sits at $2,400-$2,500. A decisive close above that zone could expose $2,800, while a failure to defend $2,200 would bring $2,000 back into focus. RSI has moved above 80, leaving ETH stretched in the short term.

Taker Volume Hits $2.55B, Third-Largest in 193 Days

Taker buy volume measures the value of buy orders filled immediately, including market orders, in the perpetual futures market. The metric shows how aggressively buyers are absorbing sell orders already available in the market. A sharp jump typically indicates stronger short-term buying pressure.

MorenoDV said more confirmation is needed to determine whether the move was driven by fresh long positions or by short covering as rising prices triggered short liquidations. Both scenarios generate market buy orders, making them difficult to distinguish using taker buy volume alone. Open interest and Ethereum's price action will be the main indicators to watch next. If strong taker buying continues while open interest rises and ETH holds above the breakout zone, that would point to fresh long positions entering the market. If open interest falls alongside large liquidations, the move would more likely reflect temporary buying tied to short covering rather than new capital.

Whale Shorts Worth $98M Loom at $2,273

The rally faces sizeable leveraged opposition. According to Lookonchain data, two Hyperliquid whales hold combined shorts of 50,838 ETH, worth roughly $98 million. One liquidation level sits near $2,273, placing it directly around ETH's advance. If buying persists, forced short closures could reinforce demand. Otherwise, sellers absorbing these orders would weaken the rally's underlying momentum.

Ethereum's breakout has also lifted broader altcoin sentiment, with Bitcoin moving higher in tandem. The question now shifts from whether ETH can recover to whether buyers can turn this breakout into a sustained trend. A retest of $2,125-$2,000 would not necessarily weaken the bullish structure, but a sustained break above $2,500 could open the path toward $2,800.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.