Ether surged to a new high for the year, hitting $3,822 on March 5, marking an 8% increase over the past 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has seen a 15% rise over the last week and an impressive 132% surge over the past six months.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicates that Ether’s price hovered around $3,796, remaining approximately 28% below its all-time high of $4,891, reached on November 26, 2021.
ETH/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView
Alongside Ether’s rally, there has been a notable 68% increase in daily trading volume, which currently stands at $33.29 billion. With a market capitalization of $453 billion, Ether solidifies its position as the second most valuable cryptocurrency, as reported by CoinMarketCap.
Contributing to Ether’s upward momentum is a decline in its supply on exchanges. Data from on-chain market intelligence firm Glassnode reveals that the ETH balance on exchanges has hit a 20-month low of 13.14 million ETH, dropping by 7.7% over the last 90 days.
ETH supply on exchanges. Source: Glassnode
The decreasing ETH balances on exchanges suggest that investors may be moving their tokens into self-custody wallets, indicating a reluctance to sell in anticipation of future price increases. This trend is further supported by a surge in accumulation by large holders in recent weeks.
Another factor limiting the availability of ETH for trading is the rising amount of Ether being staked on the Beacon Chain, reaching over $31.58 million ETH, valued at $119.8 billion at current rates. This represents 26.3% of the total ETH supply, with over 987,000 individual validators involved.
Number of ETH wallets with balances more than $100K. Source: Glassnode
Moreover, the demand for leverage has resulted in a significant increase in ETH futures open interest, which currently sits at around $11.98 billion, nearing the peak of $13 billion observed on November 9, 2021. This surge in open interest suggests heightened interest in leveraged ETH positions.
Overall, Ethereum’s on-chain and derivatives markets reflect investor optimism and anticipation, with expectations for a potential approval of a spot Ether ETF and the upcoming Dencon upgrade providing further bullish momentum to ETH prices.