Open interest for ether futures on centralized exchanges has reached a fresh high — indicating increased trading activity around the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

According to CoinGlass, the aggregated open interest for ether futures, or the dollar sum in such contracts, reached a record level of $14 billion on Tuesday — setting a record high in U.S. dollars.

Daily open interest in ether futures has increased by more than 40% since the start of 2024, when it was about $10 billion.

OI also measures the total value of all outstanding or “unsettled” futures contracts across exchanges and indicates market activity and trader sentiment around a particular asset.

This rise in ether open interest coincides with …