Bitcoin, Ethereum Open Interest Are Sitting Close To ATH Levels, What Happened Last Time?

[Ben Graham]

Over the last few weeks, both Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen an interesting wave of price action with high volatility. Naturally, this volatility has spurred a wave of trading as crypto traders see this as a time of opportunity due to the fluctuations. The result of this has been a rapid rise in the open interest of both Bitcoin and Ethereum during this time. While this, on its own, is significant, looking at the previous performances, it could suggest where the Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are headed next.

Bitcoin And Ethereum Open Interest Remain Very High

Toward the end of the month of August, the Ethereum price began rising rapidly, fueled by large buys from Ethereum treasury companies such as Bitmine and SharpLink. This push would eventually see the Ethereum price reach a brand new all-time high, beating out its $4,800 peak from 2021 after climbing above $4,950.

In the same vein, the open interest had risen rapidly, and this metric, too, rose to new all-time highs. By August 23, amid the frenzy, the Ethereum open interest climbed above $70 billion for the first time in history, marking a major milestone. Since then, the Ethereum open interest has retraced. But it is still sitting above $55 billion at the time of this writing, suggesting that interest in the altcoin is still high.

While the Bitcoin open interest did not hit new peaks in the month of August like Ethereum, it also remained at very high levels. Data from Coinglass shows that the Bitcoin open interest is still averaging at a high $80 billion, still close to the $86 billion all-time high that was recorded back in July.

What The Open Interest At ATHs Could Mean

Looking at previous performances when the Bitcoin and Ethereum open interest have been at all-time high levels, there is usually a period of consolidation that follows, especially as price retraces. This was seen after the first all-time highs of the year back in February, which was followed by a few months of consolidation.

Then again, the peaks in June were followed by short consolidations, which ended in July. And then, another consolidation before the open interest started to rebound in August. This shows that the period of consolidation is not always long, but at the end of it is always another rise in open interest that coincides with a rise in price.

From here, if the Bitcoin and Ethereum open interest were to hit new peaks, it would probably mean that their prices are ready to hit new highs as well. Following the trend of the last few months, the open interest could start to pick up again toward the end of September, propelled forward by price recoveries.