Ether traders are building leveraged long positions despite ETH being down 44% in 2026, according to market data. Ether futures open interest at Binance has reached a record 3.7 million ETH, accounting for over 44% of the total market. Crypto analyst Darkfost noted that futures activity has improved despite geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Market indicators show a shift toward balanced buying and selling pressure, but accelerated speculative activity far outpaces spot demand, creating significant liquidation risks on both sides of the market.
Ether traders are increasing leveraged long positions even with ETH price down 44% in 2026. Binance‘s Ether futures open interest has climbed to a record 3.7 million ETH, as the analyst noted.
Crypto analyst Darkfost noted that Ether futures activity has improved despite rising uncertainty driven by geopolitical tensions and weakening economic conditions. The improving risk appetite is shown by Binance’s weekly average taker buy-sell ratio rising to 1.0 from 0.95.
Across all exchanges, the taker buy-sell ratio has risen to 1 from 0.94 over two weeks. This indicates buyers are becoming more active in market orders than sellers.
Speculative activity is accelerating faster than spot demand. Perpetual futures volume stood near 5.57 million ETH compared with about 290,000 ETH in spot trading.
Market analyst Amr Taha highlighted a growing split in exchange positioning. Binance recorded a 30-day open interest increase of 616,400 ETH, while Gate.io posted a decline of 631,700 ETH.
Liquidation heatmaps show nearly $8 billion in short positions clustered between $2,200 and $2,400. Roughly $1.72 billion in cumulative long liquidations sits below the current price, while nearly $1.90 billion in short liquidation exposure is concentrated near $1,800.
The narrow gap between those pools highlights significant liquidation risk for both bullish and bearish positions. This occurs as leveraged participation expands far more quickly than activity in the underlying spot market.
