Bitcoin derivative futures contracts have reached their highest trading volumes of the year on many exchanges, according to data from Skew, a cryptoasset derivatives analytics website.
This is officially the biggest session of 2019 pic.twitter.com/7MAsQPWb1O
— skew (@skew_markets) February 18, 2019
The huge trading volumes come amid two consecutive days of market rallies, with all leading cryptoassets painting large gains on the board, and Bitcoin lingering around the $4,000 price mark – up about 10% in two days. Today’s rallies mark the second broad leg up of February, with initial gains on the 8th setting the uptrend in motion.
Data from Skew also show that all Bitcoin perpetual swap funding on tracked futures exchanges – BitMEX, Deribit, OKEx, and Cryptofacilies – having positive funding rates. This means that confidence in longs is high and they must therefore pay a premium, whereas short sellers are paid for funding.
Funding-wise, all perps are now in positive territory for the first time in a while! pic.twitter.com/cmrWfT7wMi
— skew (@skew_markets) February 19, 2019
Despite this, data from Tradingview.com show that Bitcoin long contracts on the Bitfinex exchange have fallen precipitously since yesterday – more than 25% – presumably as traders take profit on their successful trades.
(source: TradingView.com)
Bullish Ethereum?
Things look similarly rosy for Ethereum (ETH) derivatives. Skew data show that Ether futures are also in positive funding, likewise indicating long confidence.
(source: Sk3w.co)
Furthermore, according to crypto (and general financial) analyst Alex Krüger, Ethereum’s coming (rescheduled) Constantinople update could be cause for confidence; and so could its falling inflation rate.
Two signs of longer trend change (backwards looking by definition). Issuance has been dropping since Dec and will stabilize at lower levels with the fork. And we have the fork's bullish narrative kicking in (just a narrative, but narratives matter). The fork is set for Feb/27.
— Alex Krüger (@Crypto_Macro) February 18, 2019
Krüger noted that Ethereum futures trading on BitMEX had reached all time highs two consecutive days in a row, since the contracts began trading last August.
(source: TradingView.com)
CryptoGlobe reported recentyl however, abou tconcerns surrounding a feature in the Constantinople update, that would allow interactions with “addresses that do not exist yet on-chain but can be relied on to only possibly eventually contain code.”