Despite widespread social media claims that Ethereum (ETH) is stagnating, market data paints a very different picture.
Rising Metrics Refute the “ETH Is Dead” Narrative
The increasing activity in Ethereum derivatives, decentralized applications, and stablecoins demonstrates investors’ interest in blockchain and its growing utility.
According to CoinGlass, cumulative open interest in ETH across perpetual and standard futures contracts reached an all-time high of 6.32 million ETH ($27 billion), a 17% increase month-to-date.
This increase is in line with Bitcoin’s recent gains, with a 35% price increase taking ETH to $3,400.
Three-month ETH futures premiums have also climbed, reaching 16% YoY on platforms like Binance, OKX, and Deribit, and 14% on CME. Such high premiums have increased interest in cash and carry transactions and likely increased inflows into U.S.-listed spot ETH ETFs.
The options market on Deribit saw over 2 million active contracts, the highest level since June, with open interest worth $7.33 billion.
Ecosystem Growth and On-Chain Metrics
Ethereum’s total value locked in decentralized applications (TVL) has risen to $65 billion, a level last seen in May 2022. Liquid staking platform Lido accounts for $32 billion of this TVL, followed by Aave with $26 billion and EigenLayer with $14 billion.
The Ethereum network also regained its dominance in stablecoins by hosting 60.3 billion USDT, surpassing Tron for the first time since June 2022. Additionally, on-chain metrics such as revenue, fees, and wallet creation also showed notable month-over-month growth.
Donald Trump’s presidential victory has revived hopes for a decentralized finance (DeFi) bull market.
The administration’s campaign promises to reduce regulatory burdens on crypto could make it easier for DeFi platforms to thrive in the U.S. This political shift has increased demand for ETH and other major DeFi tokens.
*This is not investment advice.
