Ether futures open interest hits record $14 billion on centralized exchanges

Open interest for ether futures on centralized exchanges has reached a fresh high — indicating increased trading activity around the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

According to CoinGlass, the aggregated open interest for ether futures, or the dollar sum in such contracts, reached a record level of $14 billion on Tuesday — setting a record high in U.S. dollars.

Daily open interest in ether futures has increased by more than 40% since the start of 2024, when it was about $10 billion.

OI also measures the total value of all outstanding or “unsettled” futures contracts across exchanges and indicates market activity and trader sentiment around a particular asset.

Ether futures open interest | Source: Coinglass

This rise in ether open interest coincides with ether’s price surge to $3650 — an 18% increase in the last 24 hours, according to The Block's price page.

The newly optimistic outlook for a spot ether exchange-traded fund approval was a major catalyst. In particular, ETF analysts have increased their odds of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approving spot ether ETFs in the U.S. Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas now say that the chances of the agency approving such a product have increased from 25% to 75%.

According to reports, the SEC has asked issuers to update and refile Form 19b-4, documents that need the agency’s green light before spot ether ETFs can become effective. The first round of spot ether ETF deadlines is approaching this week, with VanEck’s on May 23 and Ark Invest/21Shares’ on May 24.