Ethereum has posted its strongest buy-side pressure on derivatives markets since the 2022 bear market, according to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, a shift that could matter after months of persistent sell-side dominance across this cycle. The change does not, on its own, confirm a full trend reversal. But it does mark a notable break from the pattern that has weighed on ETH during key upside attempts.
Ethereum Flashes Early Recovery Signal
In a post shared on X on April 18, Darkfost argued that Ethereum has spent most of the cycle fighting “unusually heavy selling pressure on derivatives markets.” He pointed to net taker volume, a measure of the imbalance between buy and sell market orders on derivatives exchanges, which he said “remained almost consistently negative” throughout the period.
That pressure was especially visible during ETH’s attempts to push into higher price territory. Darkfost wrote: “This was particularly visible when ETH attempted to break into a new all time high above $4,000 in December 2024. At that time, net taker volume fell to -$511 million. It became even more extreme when ETH later printed its all time high just below $5,000, as sell-side pressure heavily dominated with -$568 million in net taker volume.”
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In Darkfost’s reading, even when ETH was pressing toward local highs, aggressive sellers in derivatives were still overwhelming buyers. That helps explain why upside momentum struggled to translate into a cleaner breakout environment. Strong spot narratives or bullish sentiment alone were not enough if the derivatives complex kept leaning the other way.
That dynamic, he said, has now started to change. “Since March, buy-side volumes have finally taken control, with +$102 million recorded today,” Darkfost wrote. “The last time Ethereum saw such a strong level of buying pressure on derivatives markets was during the previous bear market in 2022, when ETH was trading around the $1,000 area.”
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The comparison to 2022 is notable because it frames the current move less as routine positioning noise and more as a rare regime shift in flow. On the chart, green positive net taker volume bars have reappeared after a long stretch in which red negative readings dominated. For traders watching ETH’s structure, that matters because sustained positive taker flow suggests buyers are becoming more willing to lift offers rather than wait passively for lower prices.
Still, Darkfost stopped short of calling a confirmed reversal. His argument is conditional. “If this trend manages to persist and buyers continue to absorb selling pressure, it could mark the early stages of a stronger structural recovery for Ethereum,” he wrote. That caveat is central to the thesis: one strong reading does not erase a cycle’s worth of negative pressure, but persistence would.
At press time, ETH traded at $2,288.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com