Bitcoin (BTC) has been struggling to sustain above the $53,000 support for the past three days, while Ether (ETH) soared to a new all-time high at $2,800. In the current scenario, some traders would rather wait for Friday's CME futures expiry before entering long BTC positions, as historically, its price tends to correct ahead of the event. On the other hand, Ether's price has been positively impacted by the European Investment Bank launching a "digital bond" sale using the Ethereum network. The EIB is issuing a two-year 100-million-euro ($120.8 million) digital bond, with the deal to be led by Goldman …

The last couple of weeks have been nothing short of a roller coaster for Ether (ETH), which oscillated between $2,000 and a record-high $2,650. The 20% crash on April 17 caused a $1-billion liquidation on long futures contracts, and it also drastically reduced investors’ appetite for risk. However, as displayed above, the 28% gain over the last couple of days caused the open interest on Ether futures to reach $8.2 billion, which is just 5% below its April 15 record. A similar event took place in the options markets, which have grown by 45% since the March 25 expiry. The …

The massive growth of Ethereum’s futures and options arena is reportedly pointing toward significant institutional involvement in the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. According to a recent report by crypto investment advisory firm Two Prime Digital Assets, the 80-fold growth in Ether (ETH) options open interest goes beyond mere retail speculation. As part of its report, the firm argued: “Institutional money managers have moved in to start hedging net long portfolios against outsized volatility events.” The same exponential growth can also be seen in the ETH futures market. Indeed, data from crypto aggregator Bybt shows the open interest in ETH …

The price of Ether (ETH) fell by 19.6% on April 18, resulting in the quick liquidation of $1 billion in long futures contracts. Despite the size of this record liquidation and its impact on Ether's price, the futures open interest remained above $20.5 billion, which is 5% below the previous month. After the sell-off, there were signs that investor sentiment deteriorated, which was evident in derivatives markets. Historically, there's much higher borrowing demand for Ether longs as opposed to shorts. Over the past couple of days, the long-to-short ratio has flipped, reaching the lowest level since December 2018. There's hardly …

Ethereum paved the way for lower transaction costs with its Berlin upgrade on April 15. However, traders already know that Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559 is the most anticipated and controversial change scheduled for the upcoming London hard fork. The EIP introduces a base fee that will be burned when a transaction occurs, while miners receive a tip for validating transactions. This move would severely pressure miners' earnings, but the proposal aims to tame the skyrocketing gas fees that have plagued the network for the past two years. The recent rally and conflict with miners boosted demand for protective options Both …

Open interest in Bitcoin futures has surged to new record highs ahead of Coinbase’s Wednesday direct listing on the Nasdaq. Crypto market data aggregator Glassode states that Bitcoin open interest has exceeded $27 billion for the first time as Bitcoin (BTC) pushed into new record highs above $63,000. The milestone suggests traders may be speculating on higher prices, although some may also be hedging against incoming volatility. #Bitcoin Futures Open Interest across major exchanges reaches record highs of more than $27B as $BTC hits new ATHs. Chart: https://t.co/GqgQ98W7Mq pic.twitter.com/KYBQC9WZxC — glassnode (@glassnode) April 13, 2021 The lion’s share of trading …

Now that Ether's (ETH) price broke the $2,000 level, hitting all-time highs this week, traders became excessively bullish and are expecting more upside in the short-term. Some analysts believe Visa's initial USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin transaction settlement on the Ethereum network kicked off the most recent rally. Others attribute the current Ether hike to a "triangle market structure" breakout. Regardless of the cause behind the recent 25% rally, professional traders seem highly optimistic this time around. This conclusion can be reached by looking at the surging futures’ basis, which has reached its highest level ever. This movement brings increased risks …

With no short-term solution in sight for the surging network fees, some investors are afraid that Ether (ETH) price could face a correction. The EIP-1559 proposal is set to be bundled with the impending London upgrade, and this will change the gas fee structure, but traders are left to deal with high fees until then. The flexible block size proposal aims for a more predictable fee pricing model, but this upgrade is scheduled for July, meaning, in the short term, Ether could be subject to price pressure. Adding to this, miners have been expressing concerns as the new proposal aims …

The price of Ether (ETH) is continuing to rally, reaching $2,000 on Friday on the back of strong technical momentum following a high-profile announcement from Visa. As Cointelegraph previously reported on Sunday, Visa will allow its partners to use USD Coin (USDC) on the Ethereum blockchain network to settle transactions. Since then, the interest in Ethereum across both futures and options markets is seeing an uptick, with the former approaching $7 billion, the highest in over a month. The options market for Ethereum is particularly optimistic According to Cantering Clark, a cryptocurrency trader and analyst, the Ethereum options market shows …

Ether (ETH) has been making higher lows throughout 2021, and the current trend indicates that $1,800 might be the bottom for April. Even traders and investors who do not rely on technicals have become optimists after Visa initiated a pilot to settle transactions in USD Coin (USDC) through the Ethereum network. Given that Ether's price is looking like it's ready to pursue new yearly highs, there's a few investment options on the table. Buying and holding is an excellent strategy, as well as a leveraged long position up to 2x. The problem lies on the downside, as a 20% move …

Ether (ETH) rebounded from a $1,550 low on March 24, which marked a 17% fall from the $1,870 weekly high. Even though the $1.15 billion options expiry in the early hours of March 26 could have pressured Ether price, the continuing surge in gas fees for Ethereum transactions likely played a part. To better assess these forces, one should analyze top traders' exposure using data provided by the largest crypto exchanges. If the case for the options expiry holds, the long-to-short data from whales and arbitrage desks will show buying activity after the options expiry at 8:00 UTC. Although the …

Ether (ETH) lost the $1,750 support on March 22, which marked a 7% loss and $230 million worth of futures contract liquidations. It has been holding near the strong support at $1,670, although investors are unwilling to open new long positions despite the price being 11% below the previous week's high. Binance Chain recently surpassed Ethereum's transaction volume, and this startling growth in unique active wallets certainly played a part in tampering with investors' optimism. The nonfungible token (NFT) frenzy has been driving new projects away from the Ethereum network's high fees. To further complicate things, multiple decentralized finance (DeFi) …