Ethereum Futures Open Interest Climbs to $19.8B, Highest Since June

Ethereum (ETH) open interest across futures venues has climbed to roughly $19.8 billion, its highest reading since early June, as the second-largest crypto asset broke a descending trendline that had capped it since its all-time high. Derivatives open-interest data shows the metric rebounded from about $15.5 billion in late June, when a deleveraging wave reset positioning. Rising open interest alongside a higher price signals fresh capital entering rather than short covering alone. Ethereum was changing hands near $1,928 at the time, up about 5.2% over 24 hours, though our reading of the flow warns the breakout still needs sustained spot demand to confirm.

Corporate treasury operator Bitmine Immersion Technologies has completed a decisive pivot toward staking, according to its Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. The official filing states the company booked $46.5 million in total fiscal third-quarter revenue for the period ending May 31, of which $45.7 million — roughly 98% — came from Ethereum staking and validation. A year earlier, total revenue was just $2 million, drawn mainly from machine leasing. The shift accelerated after Bitmine acquired Australian infrastructure firm Pier Two for $27.8 million upfront, folding its stack into the company's institutional staking platform. Self-mined Bitcoin contributed only $624,000 over the same quarter.

The same filing details how far Bitmine's balance sheet has tilted toward the altcoin. The company held 5,416,945 ETH as of May 31, with a fair market value of $10.85 billion, alongside a legacy 203 BTC reserve. Its MAVAN staking platform, launched in March, has already staked about 4.9 million ETH, or roughly 85% of holdings. Chairman Tom Lee projects annualized staking yield near $284 million once the full treasury is deployed through MAVAN and its partners. Despite the revenue surge, the disclosure records an $83.6 million net loss, driven largely by a $92 million derivatives loss on Ethereum options contracts.

A softer macro print added a tailwind for risk assets during the move. Official data showed US producer prices rose 5.5% year over year in June, well below the 6.2% consensus, with the prior reading revised down from 6.5% to 6%. It marked the first decline in the PPI since August 2025 and the largest drop since April 2025. Cooling wholesale inflation feeds directly into rate-cut expectations, and traders read the surprise as easing pressure on the Federal Reserve. For an asset like Ethereum, which trades sensitively to liquidity conditions, a lower-inflation surprise typically supports the case for higher risk appetite across the board.

Regulatory signals also firmed on the payments side. The UK and US issued a joint stablecoin statement through a transatlantic markets working group, pledging to align frameworks and support cross-border use in payments and settlement. The statement holds that money-like stablecoins should be backed at least 1:1 by high-quality liquid assets, with reserves segregated from an issuer's own funds and timely redemption guaranteed. In insolvency, holders should have a clear, protected claim on reserves ranking ahead of other creditors. The two governments also aim to explore mutual market access, a step relevant to stablecoin issuers operating across Ethereum rails.

Tokenization infrastructure advanced in parallel. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation launched its first limited live trading test of tokenized real-world assets on July 15, running operational and technical workflows in a real production environment rather than a simulation. More than 50 institutions — including BlackRock, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs — had already joined the working group that shaped the service and validated interoperability. DTCC currently holds roughly $114 trillion in assets under custody, and its long-term goal is to migrate core instruments like US equities, ETFs and Treasuries onto digital infrastructure, a shift that could deepen demand for programmable settlement layers such as on-chain markets.

Our proprietary read frames the setup. COINOTAG's 42-indicator composite scoring engine rates the $2,098 resistance at 62/100 (STRONG), driven by the confluence of the Fibonacci 0.618 retracement, a high-volume node and the R3 pivot, with a nearer $1,948 cap scored 51/100 from the Donchian upper band and EMA 100. Support at $1,872 scores a robust 76/100 on ATR Lower, the S1 pivot and Fibo 0.382. Derivatives lean cautiously long: funding sits at 0.0040%, open interest at $7.92 billion, and the long/short ratio at 1.34 (57.3% long). With RSI at 66.53, a bullish MACD and an Extreme Fear reading of 25, a clean break above $2,098 opens the door higher, while a loss of $1,872 would invalidate the bullish thesis.