As the Ethereum [ETH] Merge approaches, the altcoin king seems to be prepared to grab every support it can get. Again, ETH has taken it one step further by flipping Bitcoin [BTC].
Of course, it’s not in terms of coin price or market capitalization. Arcane Research however, let the cat out of the bag. For the first time, ETH surpassed BTC in open interest on option trading.
Activity in ETH options has blossomed as Ethereum nears its merge date.
The open interest in #ETH options has reached a new all-time high, overtaking the #BTC options open interest for the first time in history. pic.twitter.com/X7FHoGCiDC
— Arcane Research (@ArcaneResearch) August 17, 2022
Before now, no other cryptocurrency had come close in that regard. According to the details, ETH seems to be in blossom stage as its trading volume in options open interest has skyrocketed.
The blockchain research firm noted that ETH options open interest was $8.2 billion compared to BTC’s $5.4 billion.
Less changes here, many there
The report by Arcane Research, also confirmed by Glassnode showed that there has been low trading activity in BTC options. Also, funding rates and future premiums have significantly declined.
On the other hand, ETH has thrived in these aspects. At press time, the perpetual funding rate of ETH was at an average of 0.005%.
The current value represented a slight drop from its value on all exchanges on 13 August when the ETH price was $1,981.86.
Source: Glassnode
Additionally, ETH remained at a food spot with its Futures Estimated Leverage Ratio. Despite the fact that it was as high as 0.233 on 14 August, it stayed within the same zone at 0.222 at the time of this writing.
Source: Glassnode
So can ETH sustain its momentum over BTC in the futures market?
Solid chance
With the current market condition, it is possible that we would likely see a continuation of the trend in that regard. Coupled with the Ethereum Classic [ETC] performance of the past two months, it may seem that ETH’s transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) might help it stay above BTC.
But what about the price?
Although ETH overtook BTC, the effect has not been reflected in the current price.
In short, there has been a decline. After a quick ride to $1,900 on 16 August, ETH is trading below it with a 1.48% decrease to keep its price at $1.876.
For BTC, it looked like the top two cryptocurrencies were following a similar trend. At press time, the number one cryptocurrency in market value was trading at $23,736 which was less than its price 24 hours ago.
As the Merge draws nearer, it is highly unusual that some price movement or surprises do not occur.
