Ether briefly slid to around $1,500 last week, shaking institutional flows, spot supply and derivatives positioning at the same time.

On June 7, blockchain outlet CryptoSlate reported that ether recently fell to $1,506, its lowest level since April 2025.

The decline was not limited to spot-price weakness. The market saw regulated exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows, rising deposits to centralised exchanges and futures-market deleveraging all at once. Bitcoin also slid to a four-month low near $60,000, rapidly dampening investor sentiment across cryptocurrencies.

The ETF market stood out first. Spot ether ETFs recorded four straight weeks of outflows, with net outflows exceeding $870 million, based on Sosovalue data. Outflows continued for 17 straight trading sessions over the period, with the only exception being a day that saw net inflows of $19.3 million. Spot ether ETF assets under management fell more than 70 percent to $8.71 billion from a peak of $30 billion.

Rising inflows to exchanges added to the burden. Ether inflows to trading platforms rose to about 2.24 million ether a day, the highest in four months, based on CryptoQuant data. Deposits into Binance exceeded 1.16 million ether, accounting for more than half. Exchange deposits do not immediately mean selling, but the market is wary of higher near-term volatility.

On-chain data also showed movement of long-dormant holdings. A wallet linked to Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin (조지프 루빈) moved 80,100 ether that had not moved for more than three years. The amount was estimated at about $122 million at the time. With prices already down near $1,580 when the transfer occurred, the market is taking it as a signal of broader liquidity reallocation rather than a simple position adjustment.

In derivatives markets, the drop accelerated as leverage shrank. Selling pressure increased as automatic liquidations on major exchanges closed long positions sitting in loss territory. Bitcoin open interest fell 25 percent to $23.2 billion, while ether open interest fell 13 percent to $9.8 billion, according to Santiment. The move can make market structure healthier by clearing excessive leverage, but it also means less speculative money is available for a short-term rebound.

The pressure also fed into defensive demand in the options market. The put-to-call premium in ether options rose to as high as 3.7 times on June 6, and puts have remained in stronger demand since June 2, based on Deribit data. A put option gives the right to sell at a set price and is a common hedging tool against further declines.

Open interest clustered at about $108 million at the $1,500 strike, about $75 million at $1,400 and about $78 million at $1,000. It suggests less that the market expects an immediate drop to $1,000 than that it is paying for downside protection as multiple support signals weaken at the same time.

Volatility also jumped. Short-term implied volatility for ether rose to 67 percent from the year's low of 36 percent, based on BlockScholes data. Skew for seven-day options tilted further to minus 14 percent from around minus 3 to minus 4 percent in late May. Another feature was that put demand spread across expiries including 14-day, 30-day and 90-day contracts, not only seven-day options. This is seen as reflecting concerns that weakness could last longer if ETF outflows persist and exchange deposits stay high, rather than preparations for a short-term event.

The market's next inflection point is whether $1,500 holds as support or becomes a trigger for further declines. Pressure may ease if ETF flows stabilise and exchange deposits fall. If those signals do not change, downside option strikes that have drawn the most activity are likely to increasingly serve as reference points for the next selling zone.