Ether's price surged past the $2,600 threshold on September 18, reaching as high as $2,630, a level not seen since late January. This rally unfolded against a backdrop of a broader market rebound led by altcoins, yet the order flow data presents an unusual divergence from the price action: on Binance, weeks of persistent selling pressure failed to push prices down, and instead, a breakout occurred in a sell-side-dominated trading environment.

A CryptoQuant chart shared by Amr Taha sheds light on this contradiction. The data shows cumulative net taker sell volume hit negative $903 million, meaning market sell orders requiring immediate execution on Binance far exceeded corresponding buy orders. Notably, when the net taker volume registered such a substantial negative figure, Ether was hovering near $2,460 before climbing again to above $2,630. This disconnect between price movement and order flow suggests aggressive sellers were unable to steer market direction.

Open interest stood at roughly $3 billion at the time, below the recent peak of around $3.3 billion, ruling out a sudden spike in leverage as the sole driver behind the price increase. The more critical variable is that despite mounting sell pressure, prices remained relatively steady, hinting that passive buyers may have absorbed the sell orders through resting limit orders. Demand could also be emanating from other exchanges, institutional trading desks, or on-chain venues.

Since the chart only captures Binance data, it does not reflect the entire Ethereum market, making it impossible to pinpoint exactly which buyers provided the supporting bid. The available evidence leans toward the conclusion that aggressive sell orders were repeatedly filled without driving prices lower, and once the selling intensity waned, Ether advanced with comparatively little additional buying force.

Santiment data corroborates signs of activity among large holders. When Ether hit its January peak, the number of transactions exceeding $100,000 in value increased, indicating whales became more active during the price rise, although the data does not clarify whether they were buying, selling, or moving funds between wallets. Meanwhile, the count of non-empty Ethereum addresses reached a record 207 million, reflecting heightened on-chain activity, but it is worth noting that a single holder can control multiple wallets, and inactive addresses are included in the total, so this does not directly prove whale accumulation of ETH.

Additionally, more than 40 million ETH is currently staked, with Ethereum staking platforms showing total staked amounts of around 43 million ETH, representing roughly 35% of the circulating supply. While validators can reclaim their tokens after completing the exit process and staking does not permanently remove supply, the sheer scale of staked ETH reduces the amount available for immediate trading. If aggressive selling eases while a portion of ETH remains locked in staking, even a modest uptick in demand could have an outsized impact on price, a logic consistent with the Binance data.

Looking ahead, Ether's break above the $2,630 level reached heights untouched since January, but a single day's gain is insufficient to establish solid support. Only a daily close sustaining above this level would confirm the breakout is complete. If prices remain consistently above this threshold in subsequent sessions, or revisit the level and attract buyers, that would provide stronger evidence that the market has accepted a higher price range.

Conversely, a swift reversal back below $2,630 would imply that the aggressive Binance sell orders were merely temporarily contained rather than fully absorbed, with signs also emerging that demand has weakened after Ether reached its multi-month high. Therefore, the first meaningful profit-taking wave should exhibit a more pronounced trend than the initial price surge. If Ether can hold this breakout level while net taker sell volume remains negative or begins to ease, that would indicate buyers have the capacity to absorb selling at higher prices. Should price fall back into its previous range, the rising whale transaction volume and wallet activity would more likely represent churn within a rebound zone rather than robust demand.