INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Key takeaways:Ether drops 4% drop despite ETF inflows, and this shows traders are skeptical about a move back to $3,000.Negative funding and
cryptocurrency market capitalization gained 1%, calling into question the odds of a rally to $4,000
Ether derivatives point to reduced demand for leveraged bullish bets even as Bitcoin (BTC) trades a mere 4% below its all-time high.Total
crypto capitalization, USD (green) vs
(ETFs), as those instruments accumulated $322 million in inflows over the following two weeks
addition to evaluating whether those ETFs can offer native staking operations, validating transactions in exchange for ETH rewards
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart noted that the SEC has an intermediary deadline in late August.The lack of demand for bullish ETH leveraged
positions could signal reduced confidence, especially as other altcoins may soon gain their own ETFs, including Solana (SOL), Litecoin
(LTC), Polkadot (DOT) and XRP (XRP)
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas expects a 90% or higher chance of approval for those instruments in 2025.ETH perpetual futures annualized
Source: laevitas.chTypically, bulls pay to maintain their leveraged positions, but the reverse occurs in bearish markets
The current -2% annualized rate is not extraordinary, but it shows weak conviction at the current $2,400 ETH price
More importantly, this represents a stark contrast from the 10% positive funding rate just two weeks prior.Traders should check ETH options
metrics to exclude anomalies from perpetual contracts, which are more popular among retail traders because their pricing tends to closely
follow spot markets, unlike monthly futures
If whales and market makers are increasingly concerned about a price correction, the delta skew options metric will rise above 5%.ETH
options delta skew at Deribit (put-call)
Source: laevitas.chThe ETH options delta skew currently remains within the neutral -5% to 5% range, although it has improved from the -7%
level observed two weeks earlier
Still, there are no signs of intense demand for hedging, suggesting that whatever reduced appetite exists for leveraged ETH futures is
bulls believe Ethereum is better positioned to absorb potential inflows from institutional investors, including traditional finance
But even if those differences are real, ETH remains 50% below its all-time high, so traders will unlikely flip bullish in the near term.This
article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice
