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Earlier this week, Ethereum experienced a notable uptick after a period of bearish pressure that halted previous upward attempts. However, this renewed bullish momentum appears to be losing steam as ETH’s price saw a pullback on Thursday. Despite this pullback, ETH’s derivatives market continued to show strong momentum.

A Dramatic Uptick In Ethereum Open Interest

As Thursday drew closer to a close, Ethereum took a hit and fell below the $2,700 price mark, flipping the level into a resistance once again. While the altcoin’s price declined to key support levels, Glassnode, a leading data analytics platform, reported a major advancement in ETH’s on-chain activity.

This advancement, outlined by Glassnode, is evidenced by a recent surge in Ethereum Cash-Margined Futures Open Interest. According to the on-chain platform, the cash-margined futures open interest has experienced a dramatic surge to a new all-time high.

Data from the platform shows that the key investor behavior metric has risen to a $20 billion milestone. It is worth noting that this sharp growth in the open interest comes after the metric previously dropped significantly to $8 billion in early Q2 of this year. 

Since the futures open interest’s notable rise to a new all-time high comes in light of a recent pullback, it implies that the derivatives landscape of the network is experiencing a resurgence of activity. Furthermore, it indicates that traders are becoming increasingly interested in ETH without relying on crypto-backed collateral, which is often a sign of more institutional involvement.

Glassnode highlighted that leverage keeps increasing as traders fill up with stablecoins, even though there has been a minor retreat from the $2,800 levels. Such a divergence might suggest that traders are still betting on the altcoin in anticipation of a major rally in the short term.

ETH’s Decline Brings Its Price Below Cost Basis Distribution

ETH’s recent pullback has raised concerns as its price drops below the Cost Basis Distribution at the $2,760 level, where 800,000 ETH were held, and the $2,700 and $2,740 price range, where approximately 1.3 million ETH were purchased. These levels, which previously served as strong support following the altcoin’s remarkable upward move, are now acting as robust resistance levels once more.

Related Reading: Ethereum Large Transactions Jump 100% In 24 Hours, Will ETH Whales Drive Altcoin Season?

Presently, the cost basis bands are more fairly distributed, with each $50 band holding 200,000–400,000 ETH and ranging from $2,760 to $3,420 above spot. However, Glassnode claims there is no dominant resistance until $3,417, where 607,950 ETH are held.

Should Ethereum’s price reclaim the $2,700 and $2,760 range, the altcoin’s path is once again open to the $3,420 point. Nonetheless, how soon ETH can rise to this critical resistance level will depend on the response from holders in the $2,800–$3,300 price zone.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com

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