Key points:<\/p>\n
Ether price rose 3% to $2,550 on May 18, triggering $22 million in short ETH liquidations.<\/p>\n
A bull flag on the chart suggests a $3,700 target, with analysts predicting Bitcoin\u2019s price to go as high as $5,000 in May.<\/p>\n
Ether\u2019s (ETH<\/a>) price was up on May 18, rising more than 2.5% over the last 24 hours to trade at $2,536. This recovery reinforces the optimism among traders that ETH price could hit $3,000 in May, citing strong technicals.<\/p>\n Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro<\/a> and Bitsamp shows that ETH rose by more than 4.5% to an intraday high of $2,551 on May 18 from a low of $2,440 the previous day.<\/p>\n ETH\/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph\/TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n Accompanying Ether\u2019s losses today are significant liquidations across the crypto market. According to data from CoinGlass, more than $158 million leveraged crypto positions have been liquidated over the last 24 hours, with $95 million representing long liquidations.<\/p>\n Short Ether liquidations amounted to $22.25 million, with the $7.5 million being wiped out in the last hour alone.<\/p>\n Total liquidations across the crypto market. Source: CoinGlass<\/em><\/p>\n This means that short traders were caught off guard by Ether\u2019s return to $2,500. <\/p>\n Additional CoinGlass data showed several bands of seller interest above the spot price, with ask orders worth over $384 million building up all the way up to $3,000. This suggested that the ongoing recovery might be capped at this level.<\/p>\n ETH liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass<\/em><\/p>\n Market analysts believe Ether\u2019s recent drop was a technical correction to retest key support levels before continuing its uptrend toward $3,000<\/a> and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n Titan of Crypto said<\/a> that the weekly Stochastic RSI\u2019s value at 79 suggests that ETH \u201cstill has more gas in the tank\u201d to move higher.<\/p>\n #Ethereum<\/a> might still have more gas in the tank \u26fd\ufe0f<\/p>\n The weekly Stochastic RSI suggests there’s still room before reaching extreme overbought territory, possibly a few more weeks to go. #ETH<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/atCm93napO<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Titan of Crypto (@Washigorira) May 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Ether\u2019s downside may be capped at $2,400, according to pseudonymous analyst Chimp of the North.\u00a0<\/p>\n The analyst shared<\/a> a chart suggesting that the altcoin could continue its retracement to retest $2,400 support before launching another rally toward the $3,000-$3,300 range.<\/p>\n ETH\/USD chart. Source: <\/em>Chimp of the North<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Fellow analyst Crypto Patel projected a deeper retracement for Ether, saying that ETH price could potentially drop $1,800 before launching a move higher.<\/p>\n \u201cThis area is a high-probability zone for bullish re-entry if price shows support,\u201d the analyst wrote<\/a> as part of a May 17 post of X, adding:<\/p>\n \u201cIf demand holds here, the next leg up toward $4,000\u2013$5,000 could follow.\u201dETH\/USD daily chart. Source: <\/em>Crypto Patel<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n As Cointelegraph reported, ETH could hit new all-time highs around $5,000<\/a>, fueled by AI adoption, spot ETF inflows, and the latest improvements through the Pectra upgrade<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Price predictions 5\/16: BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, DOGE, ADA, SUI, LINK, AVAX<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n From a technical perspective, ETH price is still trading above a bull flag<\/a> pattern in the four-hour timeframe, a bullish setup that forms after the price consolidates inside a down-sloping range following a sharp price rise.<\/p>\n The bull flag was confirmed on May 13 when the price broke above the upper trendline at $2,550. Ether is now retesting the upper boundary of the flag, currently at $2,470, which is acting as immediate support.\u00a0<\/p>\n A daily candlestick close above this level could see the asset resume its uptrend toward the technical target of the bull flag at $3,720, up 50% from the current price.<\/p>\nEther wipes out $7.5 million shorts in an hour<\/h2>\n
Is Ether\u2019s recovery back?<\/h2>\n
Ether price bull flag is still in play<\/h2>\n