Ethereum has been labeled the worst-performing crypto so far this year. Despite more inflows to spot ether ETFs, the price has continued to underperform against bitcoin, solana, and other major altcoins. But it may not always be so.
Spot ether ETFs have seen more inflows than outflows since November last year. In the second week of December, ether gained a record inflow of $854.85 million, according to data from SoSoValue.
Last week, ether also ended with a positive net flow of $420 million, the largest since 2025, yet the price continues to lag.
Why is ETH crashing?
At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $2,644, which represents a 45% decrease from the $4,868 all-time high in November 2021. When BTC hit a new ATH of $109,588 on Jan. 25, ETH was trading at the lows of $3,000.
The worst of it all is that ether’s price was usually among the hardest to fall at the breaking of unfavorable market news. As trade war news escalated, ETH slumped by 37%.
Every reason is good enough for $ETH to dump pic.twitter.com/pxk8HpJjbN
— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) February 10, 2025
There have been several speculations as to why ETH’s price is crashing and lagging, one of which is the extreme short positions of Wall Street hedge funds on ETH.
In one week, short positions on ether grew by more than 40% and 500% since November 2024. Hedge funds have never been this bearish on ETH.
Is a short squeeze coming for Ethereum?
The short positionings most likely do not stem from a regulatory standpoint, as the new SEC leadership under President Donald Trump seems more favorable to Ethereum. So, talks of ETH being classified as security is seemingly less of a concern now.
However, with the extreme positions come more chances for a big swing for a short squeeze. This may result in a big breakout that could see ETH close out the gap and potentially reclaim its ATH.