Ethereum open interest hits 3.7M record on Binance as wallets near 200M

Ethereum open interest on Binance hit a record 3.7 million ETH on June 11, as wallet addresses with a balance approached 200 million and the token traded in oversold territory.

"The combination of record open interest and expanding wallet count shows two diverging forces — speculative positioning is at an all-time high while network adoption continues to grow," said Jason Wu, on-chain analyst at Edgen.

The open interest milestone on Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by volume, coincided with Ethereum's non-empty wallet count nearing 200 million, according to Etherscan data. ETH traded at $1,797 as of 9:57 a.m. ET on June 16, down 32% year over year and 66% below its 52-week high of $4,954 reached on Aug. 24, 2025, per CoinGecko. The 52-week low was $1,507 on June 6. Over the past two weeks, Binance saw about $83 million in daily USDT deposits using Ethereum, paired with $101 million in daily USDT withdrawals using Tron, data shows.

The elevated open interest raises the risk of a long squeeze if ETH fails to hold support near $1,500 to $1,600, a zone that marked major bottoms in prior cycles. A breakout above $1,800 could trigger short covering and accelerate gains toward $2,000, analysts said. Japan's reclassification of crypto as financial products on June 11, which cuts the maximum tax rate to 20 percent and opens the door for spot Ethereum ETFs by 2028, provides a long-term demand catalyst.

Record OI Meets Record Adoption

The 3.7 million ETH open interest on Binance represents the highest level of futures exposure on the exchange since trading began. Elevated OI typically signals strong capital inflow into derivatives markets, but also increases the potential for sharp liquidation cascades in either direction.

Ethereum's wallet count has nearly tripled Bitcoin's total address count, according to Fortune, reflecting the network's dominance in decentralized finance, stablecoin issuance, and tokenization. The milestone comes even as ETH's price has struggled, with the Fear and Greed Index at 14 — deep in extreme fear territory.

Japan's Crypto Bill Adds Long-Term Catalyst

Japan's House of Representatives passed a bill on June 11 reclassifying crypto assets as financial products, cutting the maximum tax on crypto gains from 55 percent to a flat 20 percent and allowing the Japan Exchange Group to list spot Ethereum ETFs once the law takes effect in 2028. The policy shift adds institutional demand potential that could support ETH over the medium to long term, though near-term price action remains tied to macro conditions and on-chain flows.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.