Ether (ETH) price has been unable to close above $1,400 for the past 29 days and it has been trading in a relatively tight $150 range. At the moment, the $1,250 support and the $1,400 resistance seem difficult to break, but two months ago, Ether was trading at $2,000. The current price range for Ether simply reflects how volatile cryptocurrencies can be.
From one side, investors are calm as Ether trades 50% above the $880 intraday low on June 18. However, the price is still down 65% year-to-date despite the most exciting upgrade in the network's sev-year history.
More importantly, Ethereum's biggest rival, BNB Chain, suffered a cross-chain security exploit on Oct. 6. The $568 million exploit caused BNB Chain to temporarily suspend all transactions on the network, which holds $5.4 billion in smart contracts deposits.
Ether underperformed competing smart contracts like BNB, Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) by 14% since September, even though its TVL in ETH terms increased by 9% during the period. This suggests that the Ethereum network's issues, such as the $3 average transaction fees, weighed on the ETH price.
Traders should look at Ether's derivatives markets data to understand how whales and market makers are positioned.
The 25% delta skew is a telling sign whenever professional traders overcharge for upside or downside protection. For example, if traders expected an Ether price crash, the options markets skew indicator would move above 12%. On the other hand, generalized excitement reflects a negative 12% skew.
In layperson's terms, the higher the index, the less inclined traders are to offer downside risk protection. The indicator has been signaling fear since Sept. 19, when it last held a value below 10%. That day marked
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