Updated: May 21, 2024 5:46 AM EDT
Open interest for Ether futures on centralized exchanges has hit a record high. This indicates an increase in trading activity around the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Total open interest in Ether futures, or the dollar total of those contracts, hit an all-time high in U.S. dollar terms on Tuesday, hitting $14 billion, according to CoinGlass.
Daily open interest for Ether futures has increased by more than 40% since the beginning of 2024, when it was around $10 billion.
OI also measures the total value of all outstanding or “outstanding” futures contracts across exchanges and is indicative of market activity and trader sentiment for a specific asset.
Ethereum futures open interest | Source: Coinglass
The increase in Ethereum open interest coincides with the price of Ethereum surging to $3,650. That’s an 18% increase in the last 24 hours, according to The Block’s pricing page.
Newly optimistic expectations about the approval of a spot Ether exchange-traded fund have been a key catalyst. In particular, ETF analysts have raised the possibility that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve a U.S. spot ether ETF. Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas say the likelihood that the agency will approve such a product has now increased from 25% to 75%. %.
According to the report, the SEC has asked issuers to update and refile their Form 19b-4, a document that requires the agency’s approval before a spot ether ETF can go into effect. The first spot Ether ETF deadlines are approaching this week: May 23rd from VanEck and May 24th from Ark Invest/21Shares.
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