Cryptocurrencies, collectively, are moving!
Cryptocurrency prices have risen sharply in recent days. Among them, Ether (ETH) has been the strongest performer, as it rose more than 40% in 72 hours, with the price approaching $2,600 at one point. In addition, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, XRP, BNB, Solana, Dogcoin, and AdaCoin, have also seen good gains.
Some analysts pointed out that the recent collective rise in cryptocurrencies has to do with the easing of trade tensions. And the reason why Ether is leading the way has to do with the technical upgrades that the coin has undergone.
Ether rises over 40% in three days
In the recent three-day period, Ether has dramatically moved, with the price once soaring from $1,811 to $2,597.68, with a maximum increase of 43%, significantly outperforming other large digital currency assets such as Bitcoin.
At press time, the price of ethereum was fluctuating around $2,540, with a cumulative increase of 39.62% over seven days; bitcoin was fluctuating around $104,000, with a cumulative increase of 8.52% over seven days. In addition, in the last 7 days, Solana has accumulated more than 21%, BNB has increased more than 10%, Ada Coin has increased more than 15%, and Dogcoin has increased more than 37%.
As you can see from the above data, Ether has led a broad-based rally in cryptocurrencies, and is on track for its biggest one-week gain since 2021, buoyed by easing global trade tensions and optimism about cyber upgrades.
Ether’s rally also reflects investors’ renewed focus on Ether’s ongoing technology upgrades.On May 7, Ether successfully implemented the Pectra upgrade, which introduced a number of key technical improvements. The upgrade introduced important improvements including higher pledge caps, account abstraction (EIP-7702 standard), significantly enhancing the ease of use and flexibility of the Ether network, and the technology also reduces network fees. This technological upgrade not only brings substantial functionality enhancements, but also instills new confidence in investors and serves as an important technological foundation for this rally. These moves by Ethernet are also seen as necessary to fend off competition from fast-growing rivals such as Solana.
In addition, the “forced short” market also contributed to the rally in Ether. Since May 8, the ethereum futures market staged a typical short squeeze. Data show that since May 8, the short positions in the ethereum futures market appeared large-scale liquidation, the liquidation amount of up to 438 million U.S. dollars, far more than the long liquidation amount of 211 million U.S. dollars during the same period. The sharp rise in price forced short traders to buy ethereum to cover their positions, which further pushed up the price of the coin, forming a typical “forced” upward spiral.
Meanwhile, the total value of open positions in Ether surged from $21.28 billion on May 8 to $26.77 billion on May 10, and the weekly funding rate for Ether perpetual futures rose from 0.10% to 0.15%. Together, these two indicators suggest that more traders are entering the market and opening new positions, and that long traders are willing to pay additional fees to maintain their positions, further corroborating the bullish sentiment among traders of ethereum futures.
Trade tensions have eased
On a macro level, the easing of global trade tensions is a major reason for the current round of cryptocurrency strength. According to CCTV News, on May 8 local time, the United States and the United Kingdom reached a new trade agreement to partially withdraw tariffs in specific areas and further expand market access for products from both sides. In addition, on the morning of May 10, local time, the high-level economic and trade talks between the U.S. and China began in Geneva, Switzerland.
The above news has significantly boosted market risk appetite and created a positive atmosphere for the crypto asset market, including bitcoin and ethereum. on May 8, bitcoin broke through the $100,000 mark for the first time since February this year to break through this psychological barrier. Some analysts say this reflects that overall investor demand for risky assets is picking up, while at the same time, U.S. stocks have continued to rebound from their April lows, and market risk appetite has strengthened significantly.
According to Trenchev, co-founder of cryptocurrency trading platform Nexo, “Bitcoin’s move on Thursday was not only a return to the $100,000 mark for the first time in three months, but it also reaffirmed Bitcoin’s status as the ‘ultimate rebound asset’ and reflected the improved U.S. trade outlook’s market sentiment boost.” Trenchev added: “Bitcoin has been supported by the Trump administration’s friendly approach to cryptocurrencies, and spot ETF investors are continuing to buy.” He added that recent market uncertainty has instead fueled Bitcoin’s gains as investors have begun to question the safe-haven status of the U.S. dollar, which may continue to support Bitcoin’s strength.
Thomas Perfumo, global economist at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, noted, “Bitcoin’s return to the six-figure mark comes at a time of recovering risk sentiment in global markets. Equity markets are performing strongly, investors are becoming more willing to allocate to risky assets, and the ‘animal spirits’ of this recovery are quickly spreading to the cryptocurrency space.”
Another major event in the cryptocurrency world in recent days was Coinbase’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, taking down the world’s largest digital coin derivatives exchange.
U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has agreed to acquire Deribit, the world’s largest crypto derivatives exchange, for $2.9 billion, marking the largest merger and acquisition ever in the digital marketplace, according to foreign media reports this Thursday. The structure of the deal shows that Coinbase will pay $700 million in cash and the rest in stock.Coinbase said the acquisition will accelerate the company’s global derivatives strategy.
The acquisition marks Coinbase’s most ambitious move into the lucrative cryptocurrency derivatives market. Last year, Deribit’s total trading volume nearly doubled to nearly $1.2 trillion. cantor analyst Brett Knoblauch said, “This is the largest cryptocurrency M&A deal in history, and we see this as an A+ acquisition for Coinbase.”
