Ether Open Interest Jumps 26% to ₱1.52 trillion ($25.4 billion) Amid Trader Skepticism
Spot-driven accumulation from ETFs and digital asset treasury company Bitmine Immersion is pushing Ether higher, but derivatives metrics reveal deep trader skepticism about the rally's durability.
Key Takeaway
Institutions are buying ETH, but weak funding rates and halved DApp revenue show traders doubt the rally.
Institutional investors are loading up on Ether again, pushing futures open interest 26% higher to ₱1.52 trillion ($25.4 billion). But a closer look at derivatives data shows traders remain skeptical of the rally despite strong spot demand.
Ether sustained prices above $2,300 this week after bouncing from $1,940 lows on March 29. The movement signals a potential turn in momentum for ETH bulls after 10 weeks of failed attempts to reclaim the $2,400 level. Spot-driven accumulation has been the primary driver, with Ether spot ETFs pulling in ₱14.84 billion ($248 million) over the past 10 days and Bitmine Immersion announcing a ₱18.68 billion ($312 million) ETH acquisition that brought its total holdings to 4.87 million ETH worth ₱685.98 billion ($11.46 billion).
Yet derivatives metrics tell a different story. ETH perpetual futures funding rates failed to hold above 5% since Friday, remaining well below the neutral range of 5% to 10% that typically signals healthy bullish sentiment. That's a red flag considering open interest recovered to levels approaching the all-time high of 7.8 million ETH set in July 2025. Binance alone controls roughly 36% of the ETH derivatives market with 2.3 million ETH in open interest, and the exchange's spot-to-futures volume ratio recently dropped to 0.13—the lowest annual level ever recorded for Ethereum.
The muted derivatives enthusiasm makes sense when you look at onchain fundamentals. Ethereum weekly DApps revenue currently sits at $11 million per week, down sharply from $24 million in early February. That matters because the primary reason investors accumulate ETH is the expectation of higher onchain processing demand and the subsequent burn mechanism. Even Bitmine's massive ETH position is trading 13% below its acquisition cost.
US-listed Ether ETF assets under management stood at $13.7 billion on Wednesday, down from $20.5 billion three months prior. While institutional accumulation from both ETFs and companies like Bitmine is generally a positive sign, the combination of lackluster DApp revenue and negative funding rates suggests traders aren't convinced the rally has legs, with weekly DApp revenue at $11 million as of mid-April 2026.
This article was written based on reporting from Cointelegraph.
