The cryptocurrency market recorded a significant jump, with Ethereum (ETH) nearing its all-time high, alongside a strong rise in leverage across altcoins to a record level of $47 billion, according to Glassnode data.
At the time of writing this report, Ethereum was trading at $4,781.44, up 3.1% over 24 hours, and only 2.7% off its historical peak of $4,891.70 reached in November 2021. This coincided with a broad rise in altcoins, with Ethereum and Dogecoin up 25.5% over the week, while XRP gained 16.2% and Solana 13.6%.
Jag Kooner, Head of Derivatives at Bitfinex, believes that the current momentum in Ethereum is driven by:
Strong inflows from Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).
Notable institutional accumulation.
Supportive economic environment following low inflation data that boosted expectations for interest rate cuts.
He added that these factors have brought investors back to high-risk assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, with a clear increase in long positions.
Ethereum options activity indicates expectations for a new breakout.
Open interest in Ethereum options has risen to its highest level this year at $16.1 billion, paralleling the rise in spot price, reflecting increasing interest in betting on new all-time high levels.
Data showed that investors are paying high premiums for call options compared to put options, with call premiums reaching $82 million on August 8 and $31.5 million on August 11. This indicates strong expectations for continued upward movement, with implied volatility remaining low, suggesting that any economic shock could lead to sharp price movements.
Notable outperformance of the altcoin sector.
Altcoins have shown exceptional performance statistically, as their average returns (weighted by market cap) have exceeded the upper line of the standard deviation range three times since April. This reflects a notable shift of capital from Bitcoin to higher-risk assets.
Glassnode sees this momentum reflecting "increased speculation in the market and heightened investor appetite for high-volatility assets", at a time when leverage is widely accumulating, creating an environment that could see sequential price movements across multiple assets.
Market Data:
Ethereum Price: $4,781.44
All-Time High: $4,891.70
Market Capitalization: $574.26 billion
Daily Trading Volume: $63.16 billion
Circulating Supply: 120.70 million ETH
Market Dominance: 13.78%
Global Ranking: #2
Total Cryptocurrency Market:
Total Value: $4.16 trillion
Daily Trading Volume: $241.62 billion
Bitcoin Dominance: 58.78%
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