The 2022 crypto winter seems to be one of the most severe bearish trends in cryptocurrency history. This saw the entire crypto market cut down by over 50% in value since the beginning of the year. Also, the situation in the crypto market got worse with the collapse of the Terra-LUNA ecosystem.
However, the crypto market is recovering slightly from its trauma in the year’s first half. Bitcoin price is suddenly picking up despite its week’s instability and swings.
According to the data from Glassnode, a blockchain analytics firm, the derivatives of the leading cryptocurrencies are making positive progress. Bitcoin and Ethereum derivatives are receiving increased attention from investors with more trading of BTC futures and higher ETH holders.
The record from Glassnode indicates that the Bitcoin derivatives market has a slight directional bias. This means that investment in the market is coming with more caution from the investors. But on the side of Ethereum, there is evidence of optimism from the investors.
The network records more demands for ETH against little withdrawals from the wallets. These overall events for Ethereum could be due to the upcoming Merge.
As per Glassnode’s Future Open Interest (BTC) Metric, investors seem to have more confidence in the derivatives market. They are laying aside the events and fear that came with the collapse of Terra-LUNA tokens. Also, the effect of the May-June mining capitulation is wading off gradually.
Glassnode noted the increasing stability in futures trading volume. It recalled that the past 12 months from the sell-off since May 2021 posed a structural dip in trade volume. However, it seems to be staging a come-back as it boasts $33 per day.
Also, the futures markets passed through a structural change within the past one and half years. This was at the beginning of 2021, as the Bitcoin price was in a bullish trend. The underlying spread was stable even as leverage was going up.
Surge In Open Interest For Ethereum Than Bitcoin
Currently, Ethereum derivatives are receiving more attention from investors than Bitcoin. This appears to be the first time in the history of cryptocurrency to experience such a twist between the two leading assets. While Ethereum derivatives record about $6.6 billion in ETH, those of Bitcoin are at $4.8 billion in BTC.
Additionally, the outplay depicts that ETH options Open Interest is almost at its ATH as of Nov 2021. This was when Ether hit $4,900.
A more acceptable explanation for the price increase is the influence of the upcoming Ethereum Merge. Most investors make bullish bets on prices between $2,200 and $5,000.
Featured image from BBC, chart from TradingView.com