Connect with us
Active Currencies 16052
Market Cap $3,813,421,672,091.50
Bitcoin Share 52.19%
24h Market Cap Change $3.50

Ethereum [ETH] tosses Bitcoin [BTC] to take top spot in this area

2min Read

Share this article

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.

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.

Share

Aashna is a News Editor at AMBCrypto and is particularly interested in the how and what of blockchain technology, along with its vast applications. A flair for the language and her inquisitive nature are factors that spike her interest in the cryptocurrency space.
Read the best crypto stories of the day in less than 5 minutes
Subscribe to get it daily in your inbox.
Please check the format of your first name and/or email address.

Thank you for subscribing to Unhashed.