Crypto Daily: Ethereum Optimism TVL and open interest surge

Aug 11, 2022
07:08
2 min reading

Choise.com team

Ethereum Optimism TVL surges

Total value locked (TVL) on Optimism, a layer-2 scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain, has increased 284% in the last month, according to data fromDefiLlama.Users lending and borrowing assets on Aave through Optimism’s layer-2 chain make up the vast majority of TVL.

In anticipation of The Merge update, which will see the blockchain switch from a proof-of-work network to one based on proof-of-stake, investors have been bidding up digital assets tied to the Ethereum ecosystem.

The merge will be tested by Ethereum developers on the Goerli testnet on Thursday, August 11. If everything goes according to plan, the mainnet merging will be approved on September 19. The mainnet merge would probably be delayed if there are issues with the Goerli merge.

The Merge’s anticipated launch date has been set for September 19, according to a recent Ethereum developer call. With Rollups, or off-chain computations, Optimism, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, aims to extend the ecosystem and expedite transactions. On Optimism, transactions are entered, and on Ethereum, they are completed.

Goerli Testnet: A Brief

The Ethereum network will be one step closer to its biggest update yet in less than 24 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been preparing to switch from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to the significantly less energy-intensive and, in some people’s opinions, more decentralized Proof-of-Stake for years (PoS).

Senior Ethereum developers stated last month that the so-called “Merge” to “Ethereum 2.0” will occur on September 19. However, there is still a challenge for developers to overcome before the “Merge” can be implemented on Ethereum’s mainnet.

Developers want to implement the merging on one last testnet after completing the switch from PoW to PoS on two of Ethereum’s main testnets (Ropsten and Sepolia) in June and July.

Ethereum open interest has sharply risen up

Data shows the Ethereum open interest has surged up to near all-time high values as the ETH 2.0 merge comes closer. As per the latest weekly report fromArcane Research, the ETH open interest in futures and perps has surged up to 4.2 million ETH in recent days.

The “open interest” is an indicator that measures the total amount of Ethereum futures and perps contracts currently open in the market (denominated in ETH). The metric includes both shorts and longs. When the value of this indicator is high, it means a large number of contracts are currently open in the market. Such values usually lead to higher volatility in the price of the crypto.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Ethereum futures and perps open interest over the past year:

Ethereum Open Interest

Source: Arcane Research's The Weekly Update - Week 31, 2022

As you can see in the above graph, the Ethereum open interest has observed uptrend in the past week and is now near the all-time high value.

The current value is the 2nd highest ever recorded for the indicator, just below the 4.21 million ATH set back on July 14th of this year.

Ethereum price analysis

Ethereum remained well bid above the $1,650 level. ETH formed a base and started afresh increaseabove the $1,750 resistance zone. The bulls pumped the price above the $1,800 level.

The price climbed higher and even broke the $1,850 resistance. Finally, there was a move above the $1,900 and the price settled above the 100 hourly simple moving average. A high was formed near $1,919 and the price is now consolidating gains.

It is now trading well above $1,800 and the100 hourly simple moving average. Ether price is also well above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $1,655 low to $1,919 high.

Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

An immediate resistance on the upside is near the $1,920 level. The first major resistance is near the $1,950 level. A clear move above the $1,950 level could start a steady increase to $2,000. If the bulls remain in action, the price may perhaps rise towards the $2,120 resistance zone in the near term.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD–The MACD for ETH/USD is now losing momentum in the bullish zone

Hourly RSI–The RSI for ETH/USD is now above the 65 level

Major Support Level – $1,780

Major Resistance Level – $1,920

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