Due to the sudden positive turn in market expectations for the approval of a US Ether ETF, the open interest in Ether (ETH) futures surged. According to Coinglass data, the total network open interest in ETH futures increased by 25% in the past 24 hours, reaching a record high of $14.6 billion, surpassing the previous peak of $13.2 billion set on March 15th this year.
Source:
Coinglass
Data shows that the open interest in Ether on Binance is $5.5 billion, and on Bybit it is around $3.1 billion. However, when calculated in Ether terms, the total network open interest in ETH futures is approximately 3.84 million ETH, still a distance away from the peak of 5 million ETH set in October 2022.
According to TradingView data, Ether began a rally around 3:00 AM on Tuesday, rising from around $3,150 to nearly $3,700, an increase of over 16%. With the rise in Ether, the total network liquidation amount in the past 24 hours is close to $325 million, with about 77,000 people liquidated, including approximately $264 million worth of short positions being liquidated.
Source:
Coinglass
Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas stated earlier today on X platform that he and another Bloomberg analyst, James Seyffart, have increased the probability of the SEC approving an Ether spot ETF application from 25% to 75%. Meanwhile, the media outlet CoinDesk cited sources reporting that the SEC has requested exchanges seeking potential listing of Ether spot ETFs to expedite the update of 19b-4 documents, a sign of the regulator’s effort to accelerate the process.
The regulator is set to make a decision on the VanEck Ether spot ETF on Thursday, May 23rd. According to earlier reports by Zombit, ETF Store President Nate Geraci stated yesterday that the SEC must approve both 19b-4s (trading rule changes) and S-1 (registration statement) for the ETF to truly go live. However, based on the SEC’s involvement in Ether ETF, the agency may choose to approve 19b-4s first and then slow down the approval process for S-1 (especially considering the lack of participation).
Data source