As anticipation builds for the approval of a spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF), traders are increasingly favoring ETH over Bitcoin (BTC). According to a report from CryptoQuant shared with crypto.news, the ETH-BTC open interest ratio has surged from 0.54 to 0.67 in the past week. This trend reflects a growing preference for Ethereum due to the expected approval of the spot ETH ETF.
Data from Santiment indicates that the total open interest in Ethereum currently stands at $8.53 billion. Additionally, Ethereum’s total funding rate has climbed from 0.016% to 0.018% over the last 24 hours, suggesting that more traders are betting on a further increase in ETH’s price. This heightened trading activity is likely to lead to significant liquidations given the high volatility.
Moreover, demand for Ethereum has risen among “Permanent Holders”—investors who buy and hold assets without selling, excluding exchange addresses. According to CryptoQuant, these holders accumulated over 100,000 ETH on May 20, the highest level since September 2023.
Despite this accumulation, net inflows of Ethereum to exchanges reached 62,000 tokens on May 20, with most assets moving into Binance and Bybit. This influx suggests that traders might be positioning themselves for short-term profit-taking, awaiting the ETF decision.
Santiment’s data also shows a 40% decline in the number of whale transactions—each consisting of at least $100,000 worth of ETH—in the past 24 hours, now totaling 10,689 transactions per day. This reduction in large transactions, coupled with increased exchange inflows, indicates that investors are cautious and preparing for possible volatility around the ETF decision.
Currently, ETH has seen a 1.7% increase in the past 24 hours, trading at $1,810. Its market cap is at $457 billion, with a daily trading volume of $24.6 billion.
However, the outlook for Ethereum could shift dramatically if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delays or rejects the spot ETH ETF approval, potentially triggering a steep downward movement in its price.
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