Ether Surges 13.5% to $2,925 Amid Cautious Trading Sentiment

Ether (ETH) has seen a significant price rally, increasing by 13.5% over two days to reach $2,925. However, despite this bullish momentum, professional traders remain cautious about the near-term prospects of ETH surpassing the $3,000 mark. The ETH derivatives markets, including futures and options, show a lack of confidence, indicating that traders are not fully convinced about the potential for further gains.

The Ether monthly futures premium currently stands at 5%, which is on the edge between neutral and bearish territory. While this is an improvement from the prior week’s 3.5% premium, it is still far from the bullish signal seen on Jan. 23, when ETH traded above $3,300. This cautious stance among professional traders suggests that they are not yet confident in a sustained price rally.

Ethereum's layer-2 ecosystem has shown strong performance, generating $58.6 billion in decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes over the past 30 days. However, the reduction in rollup fees through data blobs has not translated into increased demand for ETH. This is evident in the decline of Ethereum network fees, which fell 22% to $34.8 million over the past 30 days. Despite the increase in total value locked (TVL) on the Ethereum network, from $50 billion to $73 billion, trading volume on DEXs has dropped to a nine-month low.

The options market also reflects this cautious sentiment. The ETH options delta skew currently sits at -3%, indicating balanced interest between bullish and bearish strategies. This has been the case for the past four weeks, suggesting that traders are not overly optimistic about ETH's price movements.

Recent ETH price gains have been driven by a four-day net inflow of $468 million into US-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as ETH purchases by ShapLink Gaming and Bit Digital as part of their treasury strategies. However, it remains unclear whether this institutional demand will persist. For now, ETH derivatives reflect limited conviction in a sustained rally, with traders adopting a cautious approach despite the recent bullish momentum.