Ethereum Price Still Set for $5,400 as One Key Group Buys the Dip

Key Insights:

• Ethereum price jumped 2% in 24 hours, bouncing off the $4,000 support, defying broader market weakness.
• Whales resumed buying after open interest and funding rates cooled off, reducing overleveraged risk.
• On-chain data shows low exchange reserves, indicating less sell pressure and more room for upside toward the $5,400 analyst target.

Ethereum price corrected over 9% this week, briefly worrying traders that the price would break below the $4,000 mark. But in the past 24 hours, it bounced back by around 2%, catching the market by surprise.

Many traders were expecting more pain. Instead, talks of $5,000+ targets are showing up again.

This shift is not random. It is based on wallet movements, low-risk trading setups, and strong price support on the charts. Based on these, Ethereum still looks ready to push higher, possibly toward the $5,400 target some analysts had shared before the dip.

But for that, the price first needs to breach a few key levels.

One Group Is Buying Again, and It’s Not the Retail Crowd

The wallets holding 1,000 to 100,000 ETH, usually large holders or institutions, started buying again. These wallets had slowed down earlier but picked up activity as the price dropped.

When these big wallets buy during corrections, it often signals that they expect the price to rise later.

Even though short-term ETH holders were already buying, whales coming into the picture with over 400,000 ETH buys sends a strong price signal. Analyst Ali Martinez highlighted the buying trend.

This type of buying during a dip is important because it’s not small retail money. It usually comes with a longer-term view. These large holders often buy when others are scared, and that usually gives Ethereum a base to climb from.

What looks more heartening for the Ethereum price action is the momentum again shifting towards the bulls on the daily chart. This pattern surfacing right when whales bought the dip adds another layer of validation to the upward price move.

Leverage Was Low; That’s Good News for Ethereum Price Rally

A lot of traders thought this recent move was just a bounce. But the funding rate, a number that tells us whether more traders are betting long or short using leverage, stayed low.

On August 21, the rate was just 0.0061%, which means very few people were using borrowed money to bet on Ethereum’s price.

That matters because if a price rally is driven by leverage, it can fall apart fast. But when funding is low, it means fewer forced liquidations and steadier growth.

Also, open interest, which shows how much money is sitting in futures contracts, was still high. It dropped a bit from $64.3 billion to $61 billion, but that’s still strong. The drop just shows traders are playing safer, not running away.

When you mix low funding rates with high open interest, it usually means traders are still interested, but they’re not overexposed. That creates a cleaner space for a proper rally. It is worth noting that leverage-driven rallies are often squeezes and not sustainable.

$4,066 Holds As the Key Level for Ethereum Price

The price didn’t drop below $4,066, which was the last major swing low. That level has held firm. Even when Ethereum fell sharply, it stayed above that mark. This level now acts as a solid base for Ethereum.

If Ethereum ever breaks below $4,000, that would be a red flag. But right now, it’s still trading above $4,300; far from panic levels.

Meanwhile, $5,400 remains the key upside level, based on previous chart setups shared by analysts. The recent bounce, combined with fresh whale buying and low leverage pressure, puts this price back in focus.

Even better, exchange reserves for Ethereum, which track how much ETH is sitting on centralized exchanges ready to be sold, are still near nine-year lows.

That means fewer tokens are available to dump quickly, reducing selling risk.

Overall, the Ethereum price structure looks strong, provided key levels like $4122 are respected. And more than that, even if the price dips, strong accumulation or support zones exist at $4000.