The Ethereum derivative market shows clear signs of speculative overheating, with leverage, open interests and increasing funding rates. The last 30 days have seen the ETH rally more than 24%, triggering a strong expansion of exposure to derivatives which now exceeds 24.5 billion dollars of open interest, its summit of all time.

This has pushed the estimated lever ratio (ELR) near historic peaks, while the financing rates of perpetual term contracts have increased at unprecedented levels since the beginning of 2022.
The current structure of the derivative market shows traders positioning aggressively for more than the increase. However, it also introduces a fragility that could quickly reverse if the cash prices are dropped or correct. As traders are increasingly counting on the margin to support positions, the risk of large -scale liquidation increases.
The open interest of Ethereum derivatives in all scholarships has reached $ 24.5 billion, marking an increase of 37% in 30 days. About $ 2.9 billion in this increase came only last week. The peak in OI has come while the eTH rallied from less than $ 2,600 to more than $ 3,160, showing that the market experienced a real influx of speculative capital.

Cryptoque data show that Ethereum’s open interest is now equivalent to around 7.7 million ETH, or around 6.4% of the supply in circulation. This percentage helps us to contextualize the degree of market exhibition to take advantage of the available tokens. Historically, peaks in the notional OI greater than 6% preceded net corrections, indicating an exceptional on derivatives to feed the punctual movements.
The correlation of 90 days between the price of Ethereum and the open interest is 0.96. This level of correlation generally points to a feedback loop between the assessment of cash prices and the deployment of leverage. As the ETH increases, traders open more contracts, adding more pressure upon until the margin constraints or the profits break the cycle.
The estimated lever report, which measures the proportion of interest open compared to exchange sales, has returned to high levels. At 0.90, it is just shy from the 0.916 summit recorded in early June.

This suggests that traders are increasingly using the margin or capital borrowed to maintain the exhibition. This also implies that more than ETH held on scholarships is linked to derivative contracts rather than being available for cash or withdrawal. The rise in ELR tends to reduce market resilience to price volatility. In leverages, even modest drops can trigger a liquidation cascade as the collateral thresholds are raped.
Funding rates in perpetual Ethereum has also increased. On July 16, the average daily financing rate in all the main exchanges reached 0.018%, which is equivalent to an annualized cost of approximately 6.7% to occupy long positions. This marks a sharp increase compared to the average of the previous week of 0.0075% and is much higher than the 30 days of 0.0073%.

The funding rates have only been negative for two days since the start of the year, showing a long persistent bias among the merchants. A large part of the pressure of the financing rate seems concentrated in perpetual swaps of the first month, in particular on the platforms wrinkles in detail like Binance, Bybit and OKX.
On the other hand, ETH contracts in the longer term on the CME and other institutional sites are negotiated with a more moderate premium to be identified. This divergence suggests that short-term traders stimulate rally more than traditional asset managers or macro-bureaux.
The current expansion in derivatives does not occur in a vacuum. The punctual volume of Ethereum has also increased significantly, providing a certain validation for the price movement. The volumes of daily spots were on average 874,000 ETH in last week, 25% above the average of 30 days.
This increase in punctual turnover confirms that new capital enter the market rather than simply running by perpetual contracts. That said, the extent and pace of the construction of derivatives remain disproportionately significant compared to punctual flows, increasing the probability that a large part of the appreciation of recent prices has been amplified by the leverage.
The derivatives now lead to a considerable part of the action of Ethereum prices. Although it shows that the market matures, it also makes it more fragile. A high lever effect, stretched funding and high notional exposure suggest that ETH is now negotiated in a narrow balance zone. If the cash prices continue to increase, the derivative complex can self-hold for a certain time, attracting more capital and pushing the lever effect more.
However, any abrupt downward movement could quickly relax this structure. High ELR levels mean that many positions are seated on thin collateral buffers, and a clear drop could force liquidations that push even lower prices, creating a classic cascade.
Ethereum’s open interest at the top of $ 24.5 B while the Chase Rally traders appeared first on cryptoslate.
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