Ethereum Short Contracts Liquidated

More than $152 million worth of Ethereum short contracts were liquidated as the price of ETH kept climbing on Wednesday.

At $152 million, the liquidated Ethereum shorts account for more than half of the $251 million worth of crypto shorts that have been liquidated in the past day.

ETH traders are facing losses faster than Bitcoin derivatives traders, too. Over the past day, Bitcoin’s more conservative 1.6% gain has resulted in only $34 million worth of liquidated shorts.

Ethereum was recently up nearly 9% over the past 24 hours, trading at more than $3,330, according to crypto markets data provider CoinGecko. The price surge can be attributed to two companies significantly adding to their Ethereum treasuries and growing optimism about the network’s utility.

Patrick Gruhn, former head of FTX Europe and now founder of crypto derivatives platform Perpetuals.com, noted that the ETH price has been particularly sensitive and unpredictable due to recent regulatory news. He remarked:

> “This unpredictability has likely contributed to volatility in the crypto markets, primarily for Ethereum—possibly because it’s the largest smart contract-enabled blockchain.”

Gruhn also mentioned that the Crypto GENIUS Act, Clairty Act, and Anti-CBDC Act faced legislative hurdles, passing in a dramatic standoff on the House floor.

Ethereum trading volumes surged 15% in the last day to $132 billion, surpassing Bitcoin’s $109 billion volume over the same period. Open interest in Ethereum has shot up 9% as well.

Glassnode analysts reported that as of Wednesday morning, Ethereum is the only top-10 asset, excluding stablecoins, with rising futures volume over the past 24 hours, which grew by 27%. They noted:

> “Open interest is also up 6%, while funding remains neutral at 0.0047%, suggesting fresh positioning without signs of excessive leverage.”

Open interest, the total value of outstanding futures or options contracts that have yet to be settled, indicates market sentiment. An increase often suggests more traders are hedging their positions.

Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, stated that for much of the year, ETH funding levels were not neutral. He remarked that leverage demand for Ethereum had been extremely low, with most interest being short interest.

The current Ethereum enthusiasm has led BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes to proclaim this as “ETH szn.” He mentioned on X that his venture capital firm, Maelstrom Fund, plans to invest in the “best in class for every DeFi vertical,” anticipating that they “will all rip if ETH continues outperforming.”