Bullish Bets Soar as Ether Options Trading Volume Overtakes Bitcoin, Fueled by Shanghai Upgrade Demand

2023-04-27, 09:21

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## [TL; DR]

The trading volume of ETH options surpassed that of BTC soon after the <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> upgrade.

The price of ETH is likely to remain bullish for the next three months up to July 2023.

The <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the next milestone is to improve the network’s scaling.

## Introduction 
Certain developments on blockchains may lead to upward price momentum for the native tokens. This is because the users anticipate greater adoption and an increase in the demand of the related cryptocurrency. Changes that take place to a blockchain may also affect the prices of the native token’s derivatives. This article focuses on the price momentum of ETH derivatives such as options as well as the ETH cryptocurrency.

## The Shanghai <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> Upgrade Increases the activity of ETH option
The successful [launch of the Shanghai upgrade](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/what-is-the-ethereum-shanghai-upgrade/460 "launch of the Shanghai upgrade") has resulted in a remarkable increase in activity in the ETH options market. The  upgrade that occurred on 12 April 2023 enabled the withdrawal of more than 18 million ETH that had been staked on the network since December 2020.

The <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> upgrade resulted in the activity of options linked to ETH to surpass that of <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> on 13 April 2023. According to Laevitas, a Swiss-based data tracking website, ETH options worth around $1.23 billion, about 60% of the global crypto options, were traded on major options markets including Deribit.

![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/1682587188ETH 1.jpeg)

Read also: [Differences between Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC)](https://www.gate.io/ru/blog_detail/74/difference-between-bitcoin-and-ethereum?lang=en "Differences between Ethereum (ETH) and <a href="/price/bitcoin-btc" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Bitcoin</a> (BTC)") 
Before the <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> upgrade there was fear in the market that the price might fall. However, the opposite was true since the price of ETH increased by over 10% taking it to an eight month all-time-high of $2,115. It is this Ether upward price momentum that influenced crypto option traders to demand more Ether call options than before.

Subsequently, an OTC trader at crypto market maker GSR, Chris Newhouse commented, “**We have seen strong demand for OTM [out-of-the-money] calls in ETH.**”

The increase in the demand for ETH option calls was a result of the short-term and long-term options skew which flipped positive.

## ETH’s current price
The price of ETH rose above $2,000 after the launch of the Shanghai upgrade. Nevertheless, at the time of writing its price is $1,862.96, having lost 11% within the last 24 hours.

![](https://gimg2.gateimg.com/image/article/1682587198ETH 2.png)

There is a high possibility that ETH will remain bullish for the greater part of the year. This is because <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin has promised to further improve the performance of the network.

On a recent livestream, he said, "We're in a stage where the hardest and fastest parts of the <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> protocol's transition are basically over. Very significant things still need to be done, but those very significant things can be safely done at a slower pace."

According to Buterin, the next important thing is to improve the <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> blockchain’s scaling which will result in faster transactions and lower cost. Incidentally, these two important aspects are likely to increase the adoption of the network.

## ETH <a href="/price-prediction" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">price prediction</a> in the near future
The successful launch of the Shanghai upgrade has brought hope in the crypto sector that the price of ETH may increase significantly. Several analysts have predicted that ETH will be bullish within the next three months.

Read also: [How to Buy Ethereum (ETH)](https://www.gate.io/how-to-buy/ethereum-eth "How to Buy Ethereum (ETH)")

For example, Changelly predicts the price of ETH to be $ 1,770.57 by end of April, $1,837.68 (May), between $1,669.96 and $1,906.12 in June as well as between $1,739.78 and $1,975.92 in July.

On the other hand, the Washington City Paper predicts the price of ETH to range between $1,963 and $2,742 within the next three months. Based on these two predictions and the views of other analysts [the price of ETH](https://www.gate.io/price/ethereum-eth "the price of ETH") is likely to fluctuate between $1,669.96 and $2,742 between April and July 2023.

Read also: [ETH Price Prediction & Forecast for 2023, 2025, 2030](https://www.gate.io/price-prediction/ethereum-eth "ETH Price Prediction & Forecast for 2023, 2025, 2030")

## Conclusion
There was an increase in trading volume of ETH options following the successful launch of the <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> Upgrade. Similarly, the price of ETH surged past $2,000 after the upgrade. It is most likely that ETH will maintain an upward price momentum within the next three months.

## FAQs for Ether Options Trading and ETH 
**Is Ether Better than BTC?**
There is no definite answer as to which is [better Bitcoin or Ether](https://www.gate.io/blog_detail/751/btc-or-eth-which-is-the-better-long-term-investment "better Bitcoin or Ether") as this depends on what an investor is looking for. Currently BTC is a better peer-to-peer means of payment than ETH. However, ETH is better than BTC in that it powers more decentralized applications than BTC.

**How high will ETH go in 2023?**
Many crypto experts believe that ETH can go as high as $5,000 by the end of $2023. The adoption of blockchain games and NFTs is likely to push the price of ETH high during the year.

**How much will <a href="/price/ethereum-eth" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Ethereum</a> (ETH) be in 2030?**
Some crypto analysts believe that the price of ETH is likely to fluctuate around $35,000 in 2030. However, the successful launch of the proposed upgrades, the evolving regulatory framework and the adoption of digital assets will influence its price in the long run.

**Is ETH a good investment right now? **
ETH is a good investment in the short to medium term. The main reason is that it powers many decentralized applications in different sectors such as SocialFi, DeFi and GameFi. However, investment in digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs is always risky.

<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author:** Mashell C.**, Gate.io Researcher
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
</div>

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