Ethereum Holds Firm At $2,328 As Open Interest Rises, Suggesting ETH’s Next Target Is $2,700-$3,000  

Ethereum (ETH) is likely to maintain a strong trend as disclosed today by market analyst CryptoQuant. The analyst shared on-chain data showing a significant increase in futures open interest, signaling new liquidity is entering the Ethereum derivatives market.

Open Interest (OI) is an important financial indicator that shows the total number of active futures and options contracts that have not yet closed or settled, indicating how many traders still have open positions that are active. Whenever open interest rises, it often suggests that new capital is flowing into the market. On the other hand, when it declines, it shows that capital is exiting the market.

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

Rising Open Interest Indicates Ether’s Uptrend

Today, Ether stands at $2,328 after recording a 0.8% rise over the past 24 hours. Also, its price has been up 15.7% and 18.2% over the past week and month, respectively, driven by the open interest bullish indicator as revealed by the analyst. 

As ETH rises toward the $3,000 level, the 30-day open interest change has risen significantly, according to fresh data from CryptoQuant analysts. Over the past 30 days, a huge number of contracts not only remain open (active) but have increased massively. This shows that new contracts have been created more than the closed ones during the period, indicating that new participants are entering the Ethereum market or traders are adding new contracts to their existing positions.

CryptoQuant analysts closely examined ETH perpetual futures long/short ratios across leading crypto exchanges, including BitMEX, Kraken, Derbit, OKX, Bybit, Binance, Bitfinex, HTX Global, and Gate.io. As a result, they identified metrics that pointed out important insights into trader positioning and possible ETH market direction. The latest metrics from the above top nine largest futures platforms by open interest disclosed a remarkable sentiment outlook. The data revealed significant increases in high long ratios, suggesting traders strongly engaging in bullish positioning, a move that supports Ethereum’s continued uptrend.

ETH Preparing For A Strong Breakout

Ethereum price currently consolidates at the $2,170 and $2,351 resistance range as it awaits the Fed’s decision today, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. While the Federal Reserve is anticipated to keep interest rates unchanged, traders will closely follow Fed’s chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming speech, which could redefine the prices of Bitcoin and several other altcoins.   

ETH’s price pattern displays early signs of a rebound after a persistent downtrend. Its price currently holds a crucial resistance zone that could trigger the next trend as the selling pressure around the $1,800-$1,900 range has been absorbed.

Its price is currently testing the $2,300 and $2,400 range, indicating buyers stepping into the market, and suggesting a potential breakout towards $2,776 and a possible climb towards the $3,000 level.