Bitcoin continues to face resistance at the psychologically important $100,000 threshold, and there has been a shift in investor focus from BTC to altcoins. Notably, tokens that rallied in the 2021 bull run and metaverse tokens like Decentraland and Sandbox have witnessed a resurgence in trade volume across centralized exchanges like Upbit.
Ethereum (ETH) has observed a spike in open interest driven by a heightened demand among derivatives traders. The rise is supported by metrics that reveal a growing bullish sentiment among market participants. An Ethereum price rally is likely in the short term as institutional interest broadens and traders diversify their portfolios to include tokens with potential for gains in this market cycle.
Bitcoin struggles under $100,000, altcoins offer an opportunity for trade
Bitcoin missed the $100,000 target by less than $500 on Friday, November 20. Since its first attempt at hitting the threshold, Bitcoin has slipped nearly 5% lower, to $95,719 on Thursday, November 28.
Institutional investors have pulled capital from Bitcoin ETFs this week; data from Farside Investors shows $435.30 million in outflows on Monday and $122.80 million on Tuesday.
As Bitcoin consolidates and altcoins from previous bull markets rally, institutional investors shift their focus to Ethereum and other alternatives that could yield higher returns in the coming weeks.
Altcoins like Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), and metaverse tokens like Decentraland (MANA) and Sandbox (SAND) have witnessed a spike in trade volume this week across centralized exchanges. South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit recorded several consecutive days of increase in trade volume across the fiat pairs of metaverse tokens and altcoins from the 2021 bull run.
Data from 10xResearch recorded the spike and identified the altcoins in the chart below.
Trade activity on South Korean exchanges is typically considered a precursor for spot trading across centralized exchanges worldwide. Altcoins like Sei, Polkadot (DOT), and Dogecoin (DOGE) are gaining relevance among market participants.
Ethereum derivatives traders turn bullish on ETH
Among the altcoins that rallied in the past week amidst Bitcoin’s consolidation, Ethereum is at the top of the list. Derivatives traders have turned increasingly bullish on Ether, and there is a shift in institutional investor sentiment.
Farside Investor data shows that institutional investors’ interest in Ethereum ETFs is slowly recovering with moderate inflows to the asset. This week, Ethereum ETFs recorded $133.60 million in inflows.
Derivatives market data shows that open interest in Ethereum has climbed past $24 billion, a four-month peak. Even as the Ethereum spot market price is slow…
Read More: The Next Big Crypto Trade and Why Long Holders Sell Bitcoin
