Ethereum [ETH] interest has surged as bullish sentiment surrounding the cryptocurrency industry continues to grow following the approval of a Bitcoin ETF. However, over time, Ethereum’s bullish trend appears to have changed.
Put option interest rises
According to data from QCP, ETH risk reversal into negative values indicates increased demand for put options to protect against potential losses from speculative long positions.
Altcoin speculators may also purchase ETH put options to hedge against a decline in Altcoin prices. These trends raise concerns about a potential market correction, especially given the considerable market leverage.
However, the market is expected to react strongly to any downside move. The shift to bearish sentiment may be due to upcoming events that may cause ETH price volatility. One of them is the upcoming Dencun upgrade, which will go live at 13:55 UTC and could affect both price and sentiment.
Anxiety surrounding upgrades is expected, as not all upgrades have a bullish impact on ETH price. For example, a merged update aimed at transforming Ethereum from a proof-of-work cryptocurrency to a proof-of-stake network resulted in a massive correction.
These concerns, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding the approval of the Ethereum ETF application, could lead to FUD in the market.
How is Ethereum performing?
At press time, ETH was trading at $4,046 and has steadily climbed to that price level. Despite some minor corrections, the overall trend remains bullish.
However, ETH’s OBV (on-balance volume) has dropped significantly over the past few days. This indicates that selling pressure is outweighing buying pressure and may indicate a weakening trend or an imminent price decline.
Retail continues to accumulate
ETH's network growth is also increasing, indicating that new addresses continue to show interest in ETH. At the same time, the total number of holders accumulating ETH also surged.
However, when looking at the behavior of addresses as a whole, we see that retail investors are showing greater interest in ETH.
Whales, on the other hand, did not show similar interest and did not accumulate at the same rate.
