Ethereum Futures Open Interest Breaks High as Price Rallies
2 min read
The total open interest on Ethereum (ETH) futures markets has reached a new all-time high of over $4.5 billion, according to data from crypto analytics platform Glassnode.
$ETH open interest at an ATH.
Chart
https://t.co/Gdq1xWC22U pic.twitter.com/j53Fp8GJKW
— glassnode (@glassnode) January 19, 2021
Open interest reflects the total value of derivatives contracts—such as futures—that have not been settled yet. Futures are a form of financial derivatives where parties agree to sell/buy an asset at a specific price on a set date. Unlike options contracts, where buyers might choose to not purchase the asset, futures are contractually binding and must be settled on the expiration date.
According to Glassnode’s charts, Ethereum futures’ open interest has been growing steadily since the beginning of 2021, excluding a noticeable dip around January 10–11 that encompassed all crypto markets. The increase in open interest can partly be explained by the growth of ETH’s price itself.
Today, the price of Ethereum increased by 14% in the last 24 hours and exceeded $1,400 today, marking a new all-time high.
Simultaneously, Ethereum’s decentralized finance (DeFi) has been booming since last summer, giving the ecosystem a huge boost and attracting more investors.
This has helped boost the usage of the Ethereum network. As Glassnode’s data shows, the total number of Ethereum addresses that hold 0.01 ETH or more has already exceeded 10 million—and keeps growing.
$ETH addresses keep growing and growing–and notice how DeFi summer was an inflection point!
Everybody wants a piece of the action. pic.twitter.com/ufPqnvB2su
— Elias Simos (@eliasimos) January 19, 2021
The price rally has also pushed Ethereum’s market capitalization—the combined current price of all ETH tokens—to roughly $160 billion, according to CoinGecko. This made Ethereum the 60th largest asset in the world (excluding precious metals) by its market cap.
