Analyst and co-managing editor of CoinDesk, Omkar Godbole, believes that the futures markets indicate a growing interest from large investment funds in Ethereum compared to Bitcoin.
According to the expert, the focus in the crypto market is shifting. In particular, data from the cryptocurrency exchange Deribit shows that traders are increasingly buying call options on Ethereum.
Open interest in futures for the second-largest cryptocurrency on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is also demonstrating leading growth. Since the beginning of April, open interest in contracts for ETH-ETF has increased by 186% — to $3.15 billion, the analyst noted.
He emphasized that the growth has accelerated over the past few weeks. In turn, open interest in Bitcoin futures has increased by only 70% — to $17 billion, and stabilized in the last week.
The premiums on Ethereum futures also confirm this trend. For example, monthly futures on the asset are trading with an annual premium of 10.57% — the highest since January, while Bitcoin derivatives show only 8.74%, the expert noted.
A similar trend is observed with funding rates for perpetual futures on offshore exchanges. For Ethereum, they approached 8%, while for the first cryptocurrency they remained below 5%, Godbole summarized.
Earlier, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the second-largest cryptocurrency could become a reliable alternative in the context of the vulnerability of centralized payment systems.
