ETH futures traders lean into $1.6K range lows: Will Ether lead market recovery?
Ether traders are adding leveraged longs even as ETH is down 44% in 2026. Binance futures open interest has reached a record 3.7 million ETH, giving the exchange over 44% of total Ether futures activity. Market sentiment has improved modestly: Binance’s weekly taker buy-sell ratio has risen to 1.0 from 0.95, and the ratio across all exchanges has also moved to 1.0, suggesting buyers and sellers are more balanced after months of selling pressure. Speculative derivatives activity is growing much faster than spot demand. Binance’s perp-to-spot volume imbalance is near a record high, with about 5.57 million ETH traded in perpetuals versus roughly 290,000 ETH in spot. Positioning is split across exchanges, with Binance adding 616,400 ETH in open interest over 30 days while Gate.io cut 631,700 ETH. Liquidation data shows heavy risk on both sides: about $1.72 billion in longs sit below $1,500, while nearly $1.90 billion in shorts cluster near $1,800, and roughly $8 billion in shorts are concentrated between $2,200 and $2,400.
