A wave of leveraged liquidations swept the crypto market, causing Ethereum to plunge 27% in a single day. This sudden downturn led to a record-breaking trading volume for the anti-ETF in a single day.

Zhitong Finance APP noted that the trading volume of US Ethereum ETFs hit a record high on Monday as leveraged positions in digital assets were unwound amid ongoing trade tensions led by US President Trump. The trading volume of the nine ETFs, led by BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust, reached $1.5bn, accounting for nearly half of the market activity. Ethereum (the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap) plunged 27% on Monday to as low as $2,135, leading to the liquidation of over $600m worth of positions in the perpetual futures market. US investors took advantage of the sharp drop to push $84m of net inflows into Ethereum ETFs. Unsettled positions in Ethereum futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange also rose nearly 6%, showing interest from institutional investors. Analysts attributed the Ethereum's plunge to its significant role in decentralized finance, which makes the token particularly vulnerable to leveraged trading dynamics. As of 11:00 GMT on Tuesday, the digital asset traded close to $2,767. The sell-off eased after Trump's administration reached a temporary agreement with trade partners Mexico and Canada to delay proposed tariffs for a month, but new tariffs between China and the US on Tuesday sent sentiment souring again. Monday's crypto sell-off underscores the uncertainty Trump, the most crypto-friendly US president, has brought to traders. After surging in late November following Trump's election victory, most major digital tokens are now trading well below their 2025 levels.