Ethereum just made a big move. The ETH price shot up 18.30% in one day to $2,273.80, and for a little bit, it even touched $2,300, the first time since May. In just two days, the Crypto market added about $47 billion to Ethereum. That puts ETH way ahead of everything else in crypto right now.
The size of the move is important, but the reason behind it matters even more. Data shared by Coin Bureau points to a U.S. Treasury decision to increase long-term bond buybacks to $4 billion per operation from September.
Lower Treasury yields improved conditions for risk assets and helped trigger a major short squeeze across crypto. More than $1.57 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated within 24 hours, creating additional forced buying pressure.
🚨BREAKING: Ethereum is back above $2,300 for the first time since May, adding $47 BILLION in market value in just 2 days.
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 20, 2026
Momentum is back. pic.twitter.com/XsZUt0njUt
What you'll learn 👉
Ethereum Price Rally Gets a Macro Boost
The Ethereum price rally began with a macro catalyst rather than a single Ethereum-specific announcement. The Treasury’s larger long-term bond buybacks pushed yields lower, giving traders more room to take risk. Ethereum responded with a much larger move than many major cryptocurrencies, gaining 18.30% in one day.
💰WILD BET: This newly created wallet made $7 MILLION longing $ETH hours before the pump.
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 20, 2026
The wallet deposited $20M in USDC and opened a 4x long on 20,000 ETH at $1,936.$ETH now trades around $2.2k, up nearly 18% since the whale opened the position.
Trader is now sitting on… pic.twitter.com/Kcty1oY4VY
Ethereum also maintains a reported 50% correlation with gold, pointing to sensitivity to broader rates and dollar conditions. That means the next move may depend partly on whether Treasury yields continue to cool and whether liquidity conditions remain supportive.
The derivatives market also matters here. The $1.57 billion liquidation figure shows that leverage played a major role in the move. Traders positioned for lower ETH prices were forced to close positions as the Ethereum price moved higher, adding buying pressure to an already strong rally.
Ethereum Fundamentals Add Support
The Ethereum price move also comes at a time when the network has several major developments ahead. Glamsterdam is expected to push Ethereum toward ePBS, better parallelization infrastructure and a post-upgrade gas-limit target of roughly 200 million.
Institutional demand is another part of the picture. BlackRock’s staked Ethereum product, ETHB, had nearly $592 million in assets under management as of August 18, giving institutions access to ETH exposure alongside staking rewards.
GM,
— Tanaka (@Tanaka_L2) August 20, 2026
5 reasons I’m still bullish on $ETH long term
Price action can be ugly for months, but I think the fundamental setup for Ethereum is getting stronger.
[1] More scalable Ethereum
Glamsterdam is pushing Ethereum toward ePBS, better parallelization infrastructure and a… https://t.co/fUiQXtM03g
Ethereum’s role in tokenized assets is also expanding. The network has about $17.2 billion in distributed real-world assets and roughly $156.8 billion in stablecoin market capitalization. BlackRock’s BUIDL fund alone is valued at about $2.7 billion.
Supply conditions provide another factor. Around 34% of ETH supply is staked, reducing the amount readily available for trading. EIP-1559 also burns part of transaction fees, creating a mechanism that can reduce ETH supply during periods of network activity.
Related Ethereum News: Why Is the Crypto Market Up as Bitcoin and Ethereum Explode?
What Comes Next for the Ethereum Price?
ETH is at a key spot around $2,300. If it holds there and Treasury yields keep falling, the upside target is $2,500. Above that, $2,700 to $3,000 comes into play if buyers push through the next walls. On the radar, we are watching $2,250, $2,465, and $2,900 as ETH moves through this breakout.
The more likely path is a pause between $2,200 and $2,500 after such a big one-day jump. This rally is not just short sellers getting burned. ETF money poured in, $291.47 million this week alone. Derivatives volume exploded 370% to $105.59 billion. So this move has real weight behind it.
The bigger picture looks solid too. Glamsterdam is moving forward with testing. The Platåberget testnet fork is set for August 20, bringing changes to block production, gas fees, and transaction capacity. On top of that, institutional staking products keep pulling money in, and stablecoin and tokenized asset activity is picking up.
If the ETH price loses $2,200 and cannot hold the breakout, things turn ugly. Then we are looking at $2,125 next. Below that, $2,000 to $1,950. Those numbers matter because the 200-day EMA is at $2,125, the Supertrend is near $2,012, and the 20-day and 50-day EMAs are around $1,953 and $1,930.
So if ETH goes to $2,500 and maybe $3,000 if things go right. It chills between $2,200 and $2,500 if things go normal. Or it drops to $1,950–$2,125 if the breakout fails. The real question is whether the macro money boost and Ethereum’s improving fundamentals can keep buyers interested once the short squeeze runs out of steam.
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