Despite the widespread notion on social media, especially on Crypto Twitter, that Ethereum’s ether (ETH) is stagnant or “dead,” the market is signaling a potential rebound. Traders are increasingly betting on higher ETH prices, as evidenced by a surge in derivatives activity and a notable uptick in Ethereum’s blob usage.
Cumulative open interest in perpetual and standard futures contracts has surged to an all-time high of 6.32 million ETH, valued at over $27 billion. This marks a 17% increase month-to-date, according to data from CoinGlass. A rise in both open interest and price is often seen as an indicator of an uptrend, and indeed, ether has seen a 35% price surge this month, bringing it to $3,400, matching Bitcoin’s recent gains.
Data from Velo also shows that the gap between three-month ETH futures and spot prices has widened, with the premium reaching an annualized 16% on major offshore exchanges such as Binance, OKX, and Deribit. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the front-month premium has risen to 14%. An elevated premium can stimulate greater interest in cash-and-carry trades, where traders take long positions in spot ETH ETFs while shorting the corresponding futures. This strategy could result in more capital flowing into U.S.-listed spot ETH ETFs.
Ether’s options market is also seeing increased activity. As of now, over 2 million contracts are active on Deribit, the highest level since late June. In terms of notional value, open interest stands at $7.33 billion, according to Deribit Metrics.
The rising ETH price has translated into a higher total value locked (TVL) on Ethereum-based applications, now reaching $65 billion — a level not seen since May 2022. The bulk of these funds are concentrated in three platforms: Lido, a liquid staking protocol, holds over $32 billion in locked ether; Aave, a decentralized lending protocol, has $26 billion in assets; and EigenLayer, a restaking platform, holds $14 billion.
Ethereum is also seeing increased on-chain activity, with revenue, fees, new wallets, and transaction volumes all rising significantly compared to the period from May to September. While not at the record highs seen earlier this year during the ETH ETF hype in March, these metrics still point to growing interest.
Additionally, Ethereum is leading in stablecoin activity, surpassing Tron for the first time since June 2022. Ethereum now hosts $60.3 billion in USDT, while Tron holds $57.94 billion.
Sentiment has also been boosted by political developments. With Donald Trump’s election victory, some investors are hopeful that his administration may reduce regulatory hurdles for crypto, potentially benefiting decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and increasing demand for ETH. This renewed optimism has contributed to the growth of ETH and major DeFi tokens since early November.
Overall, despite some negativity in the space, the data indicates that Ethereum’s ecosystem is experiencing significant growth, with rising metrics and renewed interest in the token.
