ETH slipped below $2,000, but activity in the derivatives market kept building. Data from Coinglass shows ether futures open interest rising for a third straight day to a record 16.39 million ETH, worth roughly $32.5 billion. The move stands out because it came while spot prices were still falling, leaving a sharp contrast between price action and futures positioning.
Open interest tracks the total number of futures contracts that remain active and have not yet been closed or settled. A rising figure usually points to stronger market participation and more risk being taken. Still, the broader signal is mixed. Even with open interest at a new high, both seven-day futures volume and the Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) indicator stayed negative. Combined with declining spot prices, that suggests recent selling pressure has been driven mainly by aggressive market sell orders rather than passive limit orders.
ETF outflows deepen the split between spot and derivatives
The divergence between the futures market and spot flows points to seller control in the short term. In the US, spot ETH ETFs have posted $401 million in net outflows so far this month. That not only wiped out the $354 million in net inflows recorded in April, it also showed weakening investor demand for those funds.
Pressure on sentiment has not come from fund flows alone. The report also highlighted a string of high-profile departures from the Ethereum Foundation, with the community paying close attention to the exits of Carl Beekhuizen and Julian Ma.
Foundation exits add to pressure on market confidence
Markus Thielen said investors are now comparing ETH staking yields with rising bond yields, while fresh buying interest is becoming increasingly limited to Bitmine. He also said the run of resignations at the foundation points to fading appeal for ETH.
The debate has widened beyond short-term price moves. Ethereum still leads in DeFi, tokenization, and smart contract innovation, yet some analysts are questioning how much of that ecosystem strength is actually being reflected in ETH’s token value. The article also said that notable community figures, including David Hoffman, who had long backed the “ETH is money” thesis, are now reportedly selling their ETH holdings.
Strong ecosystem standing, but valuation questions remain
Research group House of Chimera said Ethereum continues to hold an advantage in ecosystem development, but rapid shifts in price and market mood often appear before changes in developer loyalty. For now, ETH is facing a combination of falling spot prices, conflicting futures signals, and persistent capital outflows, with investors reassessing the asset’s longer-term durability.