Growing spot market activity alongside declining leverage suggests long term investors may be replacing speculative traders.
Ethereum (ETH) remains nearly 65% below its all time high, with market interest hovering close to its lowest level of the past year. Despite the subdued sentiment, the network is only weeks away from rolling out Glamsterdam, its most significant upgrade since The Merge.
According to one market analyst, the contrast between weak social engagement and resilient on chain activity is the type of divergence that has historically preceded major price moves for Ethereum.
Glamsterdam Upgrade Could Become a Key Catalyst
In a July 9 post on X, pseudonymous analyst Wise Crypto highlighted that Ethereum continues to process around 450,000 active addresses even as social media discussion around the asset sits near yearly lows.
The analyst believes the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade could provide a strong catalyst for ETH. The upgrade is expected to triple Ethereum’s gas limit, reduce transaction fees by roughly 78%, and boost network capacity to approximately 10,000 transactions per second.
Calling it a “major catalyst” receiving very little attention, Wise Crypto identified $1,754 as a crucial resistance level. A sustained breakout above that price could pave the way toward $2,440, while losing support may expose ETH to a decline toward $880.
At the time of writing, CoinGecko data showed Ethereum trading just below that resistance after slipping about 1% over the past 24 hours. Even so, the asset remained up nearly 7% over the previous week and around 3% over the last month.
Spot Demand Strengthens as Leverage Declines
The muted market sentiment is being accompanied by notable exchange activity. CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha reported that Binance’s 30 day ETH open interest dropped by 594,000 ETH earlier this week, marking its steepest contraction since August 2024.
At the same time, ETH spot trading volume on OKX climbed to $2.09 billion, surpassing its previous yearly peak from February 5 by 49%.
According to Taha, the combination of falling open interest and rising spot volume suggests leveraged traders are exiting the market while long term investors continue accumulating Ethereum, rather than signaling a broad withdrawal from the asset.
Industry Leaders Remain Optimistic
Ethereum has failed to break above the $1,800 level on three occasions this week, but leading figures in the ecosystem remain confident about its outlook.
On Wednesday, Consensys co founder Joseph Lubin said the “Summer of Ethereum Love is gaining steam,” pointing to the launch of new steward organizations such as Ethlabs working alongside the Ethereum Foundation. He also cited Ethereum’s eleven year record of uninterrupted uptime as a key factor attracting institutional interest.
Analyst Michaël van de Poppe shared a similarly optimistic outlook over the weekend, arguing that Ethereum’s weakest stretch is likely behind it after posting three consecutive quarterly losses of more than 20%, an unprecedented run for the asset. He added that a fourth straight quarterly decline appears statistically unlikely and suggested the proposed CLARITY Act could serve as a future liquidity catalyst.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
