Follow Bitcoin first, then trade the ETH catch-up in peak hours
Peak ETH liquidity is 12:00 to 20:00 UTC, when London and US ETF-hour crypto overlap. That is when an 85 to 190 point ATR has a book. Overnight and weekend ETH is a thinner shadow of BTC, with more slippage on the same dollar idea.
If BTC breaks and ETH has not, wait 15 to 45 minutes for the H1 gap fill rather than predicting ETH at the first BTC tick. The late entry after confirmation is cheaper than a $15 scalp stop in the lag window.
Normalized $1 per ETH point, 20 units at $50 risk
Specs vary (1 ETH or 10 ETH per lot). Normalized here, $1.00 per $1.00 on 1 ETH. A 2-point spread is $2.00 per ETH. Intraday belongs at $35 to $65. Swing belongs at $95 to $170. Scalps at $15 to $28 need peak hours.
If you start free on Venasri, 20.00 ETH units at a $50 stop is 1% of $100,000. Evaluation default is 10 ETH. Venasri Equity Guard should flatten when BTC dumps and ETH has not finished the catch-down, because that second wave is where 20 units spend the day.
BTC flushes, CPI, and weekend alt books
ETH correlation with BTC sits near 0.89. A BTC liquidation flush is an ETH event even when Ethereum news is empty. US CPI and NFP reprice risk assets, including ETH, during 12:30 UTC. Weekend books are thinner than BTC, so the same headline slips more.
Black out US red folders if you size like a weekday. If BTC is already open, ETH is the same crypto beta. Correlation Guard should split one 0.50% budget. $50 and $100 handles (2500, 2600, 2700) are where the catch-up stops sit.
ETH session gates: BTC first, then the gap
Prefer 12:00 to 20:00 UTC. Require spread under $3, BTC direction already printed, and a $35 to $65 stop beyond a $50 handle. Reject weekend 15-unit tickets and reject leading ETH before BTC confirms.
Load those gates on the AI Pre-Trade Checklist. ETHUSD pays the delayed catch-up. It bills traders who size 20 ETH into the first BTC tick and call it confluence.