Trading activity in Ether futures has surpassed that of Bitcoin at Chicago-based CME Group, marking a notable shift within the digital asset derivatives market and fueling speculation that Ether might be entering a long-awaited “supercycle” – a sustained, multi-year period of accelerated growth driven by increasing adoption.
In a recent CME video, Priyanka Jain, the exchange's director of equity and crypto products, said Ether (ETH) options are currently experiencing higher volatility than Bitcoin (BTC) options. Instead of discouraging participation, she said, the increased volatility has attracted traders and helped fuel the expansion of Ether futures activity.
“This increased volatility has acted as a robust magnet for traders and directly accelerated participation in CME Group’s Ether futures,” Jain said. “Is this Ether’s long-awaited supercycle or just a catch-up trade driven by short-term volatility?”
The rotation was particularly pronounced in July, when the so-called flippening caused the open interest in Ether futures on the stock exchange to overtake that in Bitcoin futures for the primary time.
While Bitcoin and micro-Bitcoin futures still account for the most important share of activity by way of U.S. dollar value, the broader trend is evident, Jain said: Market participation in Ether-linked products is increasing rapidly.
Source: CME Group
Ether price is experiencing renewed volatility
Ether, Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market got here under renewed selling pressure on Monday, extending a volatile period that capped a difficult month for the sector. The move seemed to be a results of a coordinated wave of de-risking in late November.
Commenting on the sell-off, market analyst CTO Larsson said traders reduced their exposure immediately after the month closed.
“People reduced exposure at exactly 00:00 UTC since the monthly candle closed poorly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ether treasury corporations – corporations which have made holding ETH on their balance sheets a core business strategy – have seen a pointy decline in the worth of their holdings. According to data from CoinGecko, corporations like SharpLink and Bit Digital are currently underwater with their ETH positions.
