Ethereum Futures Surge to $20.8B as Price Hits $3,365, Signaling Bullish Momentum: CryptoQuant

Ethereum’s derivatives market is experiencing a bullish surge, with futures open interest climbing over 12% to reach an all-time high of $20.8 billion on Friday.

The growth coincides with a 7% price jump in the price of ETH over the past 24 hours, pushing Ethereum to $3,365.

“This surge highlights growing engagement in Ethereum’s derivative markets,” blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant said in a recent post.

Open Interest Hits Record Highs

Open interest, which tracks the total outstanding contracts in the derivatives market, has reached unprecedented levels for Ethereum.

Per the CryptoQuant report, there has also been a spike in Ethereum’s Open Interest (OI)-weighted futures funding rate, which measures the cost of holding leveraged long positions.

The funding rate reached 0.0374% recently, signaling a clear dominance of bullish sentiment in the market.

“This indicates short-term optimism for upward price movements,” the CryptoQuant report noted.

Ethereum’s derivatives market has been steadily expanding, with open interest rising over 40% in the past four months.

The market crossed the $20 billion milestone for the first time, surpassing the previous high of $17 billion recorded in May.

Positive funding rates signal a market favoring long positions.

Additionally, Ethereum’s estimated leverage ratio—a measure of open interest relative to exchange reserves—has reached a record high of 0.40. This indicates increased risk-taking by traders as they leverage positions to amplify returns.

However, CryptoQuant warns that the combination of high leverage and long-position dominance could lead to a long squeeze in the event of sudden price volatility.

Ethereum’s on-chain trading volume has also surged in November, showing an 85% increase in just two weeks.

Daily trading volume rose from $3.84 billion on November 1 to $7.13 billion by mid-month, marking a significant shift from the sluggish activity earlier in the year.

Ethereum’s rally aligns with broader momentum in the cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin recently hit a new all-time high of $99,000, acting as a catalyst for altcoins like Cardano and Solana, which gained 46% and 22%, respectively, over the past week.

Institutional investors are playing a significant role in driving this momentum.

Solana DApps See Record Fees and Revenue Amid Meme Coins Resurgence

It is worth noting that Ethereum is overall slacking this bull run, especially when compared to its rivals like Solana.

As reported, Solana-based decentralized applications (DApps) have registered record fees and revenue, driven by a renewed meme coin frenzy.

Likewise, trading activity on Solana-based decentralized exchanges (DEXes) has reached record levels as meme coin enthusiasm sweeps the crypto market.

Institutional investment in Solana-based blockchain applications rebounded in the third quarter of 2024, with Solana’s decentralized applications (DApps) attracting $173 million across 29 funding rounds.

This marks a 54% rise from the previous quarter, signaling renewed interest in the Solana ecosystem despite a 37% decline in the number of funding rounds, according to a recent Messari report.

Per the report, this influx of capital represents the highest investment level in Solana projects since Q2 2022.

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