Ethereum traders are cooking up a cauldron of leverage on the eve of Halloween. With the October expiration date looming on October 31st, the chart looks like something straight out of a haunted house, full of eerie calm, hidden leverage, and some hidden liquidations.
Call for domination and rise from the dead: Ethereum derivatives take a spooky turn
As of Thursday, Ethereum (ETH) was trading around $3,781, down 4.99% for the day and 2.63% for the week as of 11:15 a.m. ET, according to statistics from Coinglass.com, with futures open interest ballooning to about $47.49 billion. This setup looks like a trick-or-treat bag packed with risks.
The futures arena is filled with restless spirits. The total open interest (OI) across the exchange is around 12.49 million ETH, indicating that traders have not lost their nerve and have simply moved their hiding places. CME still holds $10.05 billion in ETH futures OI, accounting for 21.15% of the market, and remains an institutional investor.
Current ETH spot price as of October 30, 2025 at 11:15am ET.
But it looks a little paler, down 6.3% in 24 hours, as fund managers quietly reduce their exposure. Binance follows with $8.79 billion, posting a modest rise over the past four hours, suggesting retail traders still have the courage to dance in the dark. Meanwhile, Bybit, OKX, and Gate have seen a strong resurgence in open interest, rising between 1% and 2.7%, respectively, in the past few hours.
Gate’s OI was $4.54 billion, up 8.6%, while MEXC soared 11.3%, a move that screams “less energy.” But Kucoin is a skeleton in the closet, with its ETH futures OI plummeting 20%, showing that not all exchanges survived the volatility unscathed. The shift in leverage from CME to alternative exchanges suggests that traders’ night shifts are being taken over at the last minute.
On the options front, the specter of optimism is very much alive. Ethereum’s total options open interest remains at around $15.17 billion, with calls accounting for 63.5% of the market compared to 36.5% for puts. Traders are still dreaming of a comeback above $4,000, but the past 24 hours have seen a change in tone, with put volume (53.9%) outpacing calls (46.1%), suggesting hedging ahead of Friday’s scare fest.
The most loaded contracts on Deribit are calls with $5,000, $6,000, and $7,000 strikes on December 26, 2025, with over 200,000 ETH of OI waiting like a bat hanging upside down for the next moonlight rally. This shows that there is still some bullishness in the market as far as the end of the year is concerned.
ETH’s maximum pain level (the scary number where most traders lose money) is located near Ethereum’s current price. On Deribit, Binance, OKX, and Bybit, pain lines are cycling between $3,900 and $4,200, creating a cursed liquidity corridor where prices can expire. With ETH floating just below the cemetery gate, this setup looks perfect for a little Halloween prank. Perhaps an evil short squeeze or some ghostly drop to reset the books.
As October draws to a close, the Ethereum derivatives market feels like a haunted house filled with unresolved contracts, anxious traders, and a flickering candle of liquidity. Whether your next move brings tricks or treats, one thing is for sure: no one will leave this party without feeling scared.
Frequently asked questions ❓
- How much open interest is there in Ethereum futures on the market?Approximately $47.5 billion in open interest is spread across 12.49 million ETH contracts.
- Which exchanges control Ethereum derivatives?CME takes the lead with $10 billion in open interest, followed by Binance and OKX.
- What’s the current mood on Ethereum options?Calls are dominant, but puts exceeded the day’s trading volume ahead of the expiration date.
- Where is Ethereum’s biggest pain price on October 31st expiration date?Between $3,900 and $4,200 – a truly spooky situation for traders.
