As Ethereum’s merger upgrade (The Merge) looms, Ethereum is one step closer to challenging Bitcoin.
Of course, this doesn’t mean ether’s market cap or price surpassing bitcoin’s, but ether’s option trade open interest surpassing bitcoin’s.
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
No other cryptocurrency has option trading open interest that has come close to surpassing Bitcoin before. However, ether is clearly in a boom phase, with open options volumes skyrocketing.
According to blockchain researcher Arcane Research, ether options open interest is worth $8.2 billion, compared to $5.4 billion for bitcoin.
A report from Arcane Research, also confirmed by Glassnode, is that trading volumes for Bitcoin options are now at low levels. In addition, Bitcoin funding rates and futures premiums have also fallen sharply.
Ethereum, on the other hand, thrives on these fronts. At press time, Ethereum’s Perpetual Funding Rate averaged 0.005%.
