Ethereum drops below $3k as liquidations hit $320 million

• Ethereum price has dropped below $3,000, hitting lows of $2,942 on Coinbase.
• The decline in the price of Ethereum comes as spot ETH ETFs saw a tepid debut in Hong Kong.
• Liquidations hit $320 across the crypto market, with over $96 million in ETH (over $78 million of it in liquidated longs).

Ethereum has declined to below $3,000 again as the broader crypto market reels from downside pressure.

As Bitcoin retested prices near $60,000 on Tuesday, ETH price moved lower and broke under the psychological $3k level.

On crypto exchange Bitstamp, ETH/USD reached lows of $2,945 while the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap’s value revisited $2,942 on US-based exchange Coinbase.

ETH price weakness amid key developments

ETH is seeing renewed downside pressure amid crucial developments around this cryptocurreny’s ecosystem and in the regulatory space. This past week, Consensys sued the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accusing the regulator of gross overreach in its enforcement actions.

Consensys also wanted the court to declare ETH not a security amid reports that the SEC has considered Ethereum an unregistered security for at least the past year.

Ethereum price remained steady above $3k despite these developments, with the anticipation around the debut of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in Hong Kong providing optimism. However, on Tuesday, April 30, the spot ETH ETFs in Hong Kong did not match anticipated volume and assets.

Ethereum sees over $96 million in 24-hour  liquidations

While top ETF analysts say the market size of Hong Kong suggests the numbers are impressive, market reaction is largely negative. 

The result has been massive liquidations across the market, with Conglass data showing total liquidated assets in the past 24 hours stood at over $320 million at the time of writing.

Ethereum has seen the most liquidations in this period, with over $96 million. Of this, more than $78.3 million is in long positions and around $18.8 million in short positions.

More than 108,601 traders have been liquidated in 24 hours, with the single-largest liquidation order recorded on the Binance exchange at $5.03 million.

ETH price has declined by 6% in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.