With the increasing demand for Ethereum, the asset’s daily net inflow to exchanges rose to 62,000, the highest level since early March. Throughout the week, as expectations for approvals of spot exchange-traded funds intensified, Ethereum captured a significant portion of crypto investors‘ interest. As the market awaited the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision on ETFs, the crypto asset recovered significantly, with CryptoQuant analysts identifying on-chain dynamics that could soon trigger major volatility.
Why is Ethereum Rising?
Earlier this week, Ethereum surged 25% in two days, surpassing $3,900, the highest level since mid-March. The rise occurred after Bloomberg ETF analysts led market experts to increase the likelihood of the SEC approving the funds from 25% to 75%. CryptoQuant revealed that the Ethereum price received upward pressure from investors in the perpetual futures market and the cryptocurrency’s permanent holders.
Perpetual futures market investors aggressively opened long Ethereum positions, expecting higher prices amid ETF approval rumors. As a result, total open positions in the futures market rose from 2.8 million Ethereum to 3.2 million Ethereum within a few hours, reaching the highest level since January 2023.
Investors were more exposed to Ethereum than Bitcoin, as seen in the Ethereum-Bitcoin Open Interest ratio rising from 0.54 to 0.67. The sudden rise revealed that Ethereum’s total open position ratio was 67% of Bitcoin’s, indicating that market participants preferred more exposure to Ethereum over the largest crypto asset by market margin.
Notable Details
Additionally, demand for Ethereum gained momentum as permanent holders accumulated 100,000 Ethereum within 24 hours, the highest daily level since September 2023. Similarly, the amount of staked Ethereum was recovered. On May 20, the amount of Ethereum, which had fallen to 32.4 million, rose again to 32.5 million, indicating investors’ confidence in the cryptocurrency.
With the increasing demand for Ethereum, the asset’s daily net inflow to exchanges rose to 62,000, the highest level since early March. Most of the flows went to crypto exchanges Binance and Bybit. CryptoQuant stated that high exchange inflows have historically been associated with price volatility, as investors might want to sell their assets to profit from potential price increases following ETF approvals.
