Ether Loses $54 Billion in Market Value as Open Interest Shrinks

Ether (ETH) fell about 15% in nearly three weeks, erasing roughly $54 billion in market value amid broad weakness in the altcoin market.

Binance ETH open interest fell $1.3 billion over the past month, a decline of nearly 20%, to $5.7 billion. Total ETH open interest across the market fell to $11.5 billion.

Open interest tracks the value of derivatives contracts that remain open and unsettled. Falling prices, cascading liquidations and traders closing positions to reduce risk contributed to the contraction.

Ether also underwent a sharper open-interest contraction in July. The token later stabilized, gained more than 32% and briefly climbed above $2,800.