Rising Open Interest Is Supporting Ethereum’s Uptrend, CryptoQuant Says

Highlights:

• Recent data shows Ethereum open interest rose over the past 30 days, reflecting stronger trader confidence.
• Binance and Bybit gained positions as traders shifted exposure across exchanges.
• Rising open interest and ETF inflows continued to support Ethereum’s price momentum.

Ethereum’s latest derivatives data suggests the current uptrend has stronger support than a simple short-term bounce. A CryptoQuant note published on 18 March said the ETH Open Interest 30D indicator is showing steady liquidity entering the derivatives market. This suggests traders are still active instead of pulling back quickly. According to the analysis, that kind of positioning is helping support Ethereum’s recent price strength.

Open Interest Supports the Stability of Ethereum’s Uptrend

“This trend in open interest indicates sustained liquidity inflows into the derivatives market, supporting the stability of Ethereum’s uptrend rather than indicating a temporary move.” – By @ArabxChain pic.twitter.com/aLYNY0jTH8

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) March 18, 2026

Open Interest Shifts Show Traders Are Repositioning

The data also shows that positions are shifting across exchanges rather than leaving the market. Over the same 30-day period, Binance posted an increase of around 11,400 ETH, while Bybit recorded a much sharper rise of about 2.51 million ETH. 

At the same time, activity remained weak on some exchanges. Bitfinex posted a drop of around 35,700 ETH, while Kraken saw open interest decline by about 4,300 ETH. Gate.io also showed only limited movement compared with the stronger rise on other platforms. This shows that traders are becoming more selective. Some are closing positions, while others are shifting to exchanges that offer deeper liquidity and better conditions.

Rising Open Interest Supports Ethereum’s Uptrend

Rising open interest usually means traders are holding positions and keeping capital in the market instead of pulling back quickly. In an uptrend, that can help support price stability and keep momentum in place. “This trend in open interest indicates sustained liquidity inflows into the derivatives market, supporting the stability of Ethereum’s uptrend rather than indicating a temporary move,” CryptoQuant said.

The broader Ethereum market also supports that picture. At the time of writing, Ethereum was trading near $2,326, up 0.8% in the last 24 hours and more than 15% over the past seven days. ETH is testing the key $2,400 resistance level, with $2,435 as the next target. If momentum stays strong, the price could rise further toward $3,000.

Ethereum futures volume stood at about $55 billion, while total open interest reached around $31.20 billion, as per CoinGlass data. Together, these figures show that derivatives activity remains strong even after the recent price gain, which supports the view that Ethereum’s move still has solid backing.

Ethereum ETFs Add More Support

Ethereum’s recent recovery is not only being supported by futures traders. SoSoValue data shows U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs attracted about $138.2 million in net inflows on 18 March, marking the sixth straight day of positive flows and the strongest daily intake since late BlackRock’s ETHA led the day with $81.7 million, followed by ETHB with $67.2 million.

Grayscale’s ETH and ETHE also posted smaller gains, while Fidelity’s FETH recorded some outflows. With this, Ethereum ETFs extended their positive run to six consecutive days, bringing in more than $385 million over that stretch. The funds have also recorded four straight weeks of inflows, with total weekly inflows nearing $440 million.

According to SoSoValue data, on March 17 (ET), total net inflows into Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $199 million, marking seven consecutive days of net inflows. Ethereum spot ETFs recorded total net inflows of $138 million yesterday, extending to six consecutive days of net inflows. pic.twitter.com/H9kMKOU5YW

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 18, 2026