ETH futures open interest hits all-time high as price drops below $2K

As the price of Ethereum has fallen below $2,000, ETH futures open interest (OI) has reached an all-time high, signaling a deepening of bearish sentiment in the market, CoinDesk reported. Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, explained that market expectations for ETH's profit structure have recently weakened, while the competitiveness of its staking yields has diminished due to high government bond yields. He noted that while Bitmine (BMNR) had been a key buyer, its pace of accumulation has slowed noticeably. In contrast, ETH futures open interest has increased for three consecutive days to a record 16.39 million ETH, valued at $32.5 billion. Thielen concluded that the combination of falling spot prices with rising OI, along with a negative seven-day cumulative volume delta (CVD), suggests the market is experiencing net selling and an expansion of short positions.