Ether holds above $3,000 as ETH futures open interest hits record highs on major exchanges.
Daily open interest for Ether futures on Binance and Bybit has hit an all-time high, according to The Block’s data dashboard.
The data shows that of the top five derivatives exchanges, all but the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) have hit record highs in terms of daily Ether futures open interest. For example, open interest on Binance hit a high of over $3.3 billion, while on Bybit it reached $1.94 billion.
According to one analyst, the notable increase signals growing confidence in and participation in Ether futures trading, reflecting Ether’s appeal to traders drawn by the potential for greater rewards in more volatile markets. do. “The significant increase in open interest for Ethereum futures reflects increased interest from risk traders in leveraged positions seeking higher volatility,” YouHodler head of markets Ruslan Lienkha told The Block.
Ethereum price volatility increases
Lienkha pointed out that Ethereum’s average daily price fluctuation over the past two weeks is 2%, which is twice the average daily price fluctuation of Bitcoin. According to The Block’s data dashboard:, Ethereum on-chain transaction volume also reached its highest level in months. The daily trading volume is Ethereum 
ETH
+3.51%
Network size has risen from a low of $1.26 billion in early October 2023 to its current multi-month high of $4.2 billion.
Lienkha said this increase in activity is driven by price action. “Intraday traders clearly prefer Ethereum, and as the Bitcoin rally loses steam and volatility decreases, active traders are turning to Ethereum,” the YouHodler analyst added.
Expectations for Spot Ether ETF
Expectations for the possible approval of a spot Ethereum ETF this spring and the upcoming Dencun upgrade are also drivers of on-chain activity, Lienkha said. This view is consistent with that of Nansen senior research analyst Aurélie Barthere, who told The Block that “speculations about a possible spot ether ETF approval and a Dencun upgrade have proven to be bullish for ether.”
The Dencun upgrade introduces features such as blob transactions and temporary storage. This allows the use of off-chain “data chunks” to incorporate more data into Ethereum transactions without impacting block processing times.
According to Lienkha, the possibility of a spot ether ETF and the Dencun upgrade support continued bullish sentiment towards the second-largest digital asset by market capitalization. “With the Ethereum price now above $3,000, many investors see this as a psychological level for the digital asset, which is likely to stimulate further buying,” YouHodler analysts added.
According to The Block’s price page, the price of Ether has remained above $3,000 over the past 24 hours and is currently trading at $3,153 at 1:04 PM ET. The GM 30 Index, which represents the top 30 cryptocurrencies, is currently at 115.07, up 0.36% in the last 24 hours.
In the last 24 hours, the price of Ether has risen by more than 3%. Image: Block.
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