Though the bitcoin price has been trading sideways, the report shows investors are interested in trading BTC futures markets and keeping their ETH wallets.
According to Glassnode, there is little directional bias in the Bitcoin derivatives market, and this suggests that investors are trading with caution following the minor upward price movement.
However, Ethereum (ETH) investors are more optimistic, as withdrawals are minimal compared to the increasing coin demand as the Merge date approaches.
Investors are willing to trade the crypto exchanges market again, pushing aside the anxiety after the collapse of Terra’s LUNA and UST tokens (where billions of dollars were lost) and the mining capitulation in May and June.
“Futures trade volume appears to have stabilized in the post-LUNA collapse era. Trade volume experienced a structural decline over the 12-months since the May 2021 sell-off, but appears to be re-establishing a floor at around $33B/day.”
Furthermore, there has been a structural change in future markets over the last one and a half years. Although leverage remains high, the underlying spread is more stable and lower than in early 2021, when bitcoin was amid a bull rally.
Currently, the interest of investors in trading the Ethereum derivatives market is much higher than that of bitcoin, for the first time, as $6.6 billion in ETH equals $4.8 billion in BTC.
The Ethereum Merge has increased the demand for ETH and the increase in its price, as the vast majority of investors are putting bullish bets on prices ranging from $2,200 to $5,000. Once the Merge is completed, Ethereum would successfully become Proof of Stake without affecting the information of the original Proof of Work chain.