Ethereum traders invest $400M in 3-days: Can ETH price finally hit $4k this week? 

Ethereum (ETH) price reached another 2024 peak at $3,530 around 06:00 GMT on March 4 as strategic traders look to place bullish bets early before ETFs open for trading.

Despite the price upswing, ETH price still appears undervalued relative to the value of capital funneled into the derivatives markets over the weekend. 

With Ethereum open interest currently trending at historic peaks, can the bulls capitalize on the positive momentum to drive the rally above $4,000. 

Ethereum open interest rose $400M over the weekend

Ethereum price appears on the verge of registering on another bullish outing this week. The rapid decline in Bitcoin dominance (BTC.D.) sparked speculations that Ethereum could gain more traction as investors began to increasingly lean into the altcoin markets.

Unsurprising, speculative traders spent the weekend piling on bullish bets on ETH futures markets. Crypto derivatives analytics platform Coinglass’ open interest charts presents an aggregate of the total value of funds currently invested in derivatives contracts for a specific cryptocurrency asset. 

As depicted below, ETH open interest stood at $11.4 billion at the close of trading on March 1. That figure has now increased by $400 million over the weekend, reaching a 3-year peak of $11.8 billion at the time of writing on March 4. 

Effectively, this implies that while ETH prices pulled back 6% from $3,500 towards $3,300, speculative traders continued to double down on their bullish positions. Furthermore, the 

There’s a widespread anticipation that with over 97% of current BTC holders now in profit, a number of them will likely continue to reinvest some of their gains into altcoins as observed last week. 

If this scenario plays out, and Bitcoin ETFs billion-dollar buying frenzy once again sends BTC prices soaring in the coming week, ETH price stands a chance of making another leg-up towards $4,000. 

Ethereum price prediction: Can ETH reach $4,000 this week? 

At the time of writing on March 4, Ethereum price is currently trading above $3,500, up 5% from the 24-hour low of $3,365. Drawing inferences from the $400 million capital inflows into ETH derivatives markets over the weekend, Ethereum price looks set to make another attempt at breaking above $4,000 for the first time in 3-years. 

However, historical accumulation trend shows that ETH faces stiff resistance around the $3,650 area. 

IntoTheBlock’s  in/out of the money data shows that 1.1 million addresses had acquired 205,890 ETH at the maximum price of $3,572. Considering that they’ve been holding at a loss since December 2021, many of those investors could exit as ETH nears their break-even point

But if the bulls can scale that sell-wall, it could generate stronger bullish momentum for a $4,000 retest, as predicted. 

Alternatively, the bears could regain control of the markets if they can force a sharp downswing below $3,000. But currently, this seems far-fetched considering the looming support buy-wall mounted at $3,100 territory.