Ethereum Falls as Binance’s Share Hits a Peak: Are Investors Pulling Back?
Despite an approximately 10% drop in Ethereum’s price, the size of open futures positions on Binance, measured in ETH, has returned to its late-September level, while the exchange’s share among major centralized exchanges has approached 49%.
According to an analysis shared by CryptoQuant, the price of Ethereum fell from $2,775 to $2,500 from late September onward. Over the same period, the dollar value of open futures positions on Binance fell by approximately $600 million.
At first glance, this picture suggests that investors have reduced their positions, but the view changes when measured in ETH. Binance’s open interest has returned to around 2.46 million ETH, its late-September level.
Dollar value fell, while the ETH-denominated total recovered
Open interest represents the total size of futures contracts that have not yet been closed. Since the decline in ETH’s price also lowers the dollar value of these contracts, the $600 million nominal decline cannot be read as an equivalent amount of money leaving the market.
The analysis also noted that $345 million in long positions were liquidated in the 24 hours between October 8 and 9. Even so, the return of ETH-denominated open interest to its previous level indicates, according to CryptoQuant, that participation in the futures market continues.
Binance’s share is at its highest level since 2023
The more notable change occurred in how positions were distributed across exchanges. Binance’s share of ETH open interest rose to about 49%, reaching its highest level since 2023.
This figure represents Binance’s share among the major centralized exchanges tracked in the analysis; the total open interest series in the chart excludes CME. As a result, nearly half of the ETH futures positions in the dataset are concentrated on Binance.
The data highlight that futures positions have been maintained in ETH terms as prices fell, while Binance’s weight in this market has increased. Since total open interest includes both long and short positions, the price outlook behind this concentration is a separate question that warrants consideration.