ETH Futures Turn Bearish While Staking and Corporate Demand Hold Up

Ether failed to reclaim the $1,700 level over the past week, mirroring a broader weakness across crypto while the US stock market showed bullish momentum. The ETH perpetual futures annualized funding rate flipped negative on June 5, meaning shorts are paying premiums to keep positions open, and aggregate open interest has dropped significantly as bullish traders hesitate to add risk after a 30% correction in five weeks.

Total exposure on ETH futures has fallen 30% in a month, hitting a 13-month low, and US-listed Ether spot exchange-traded funds posted $323 million in net outflows over two weeks. Declining on-chain activity has likely fueled the downtrend: Ethereum’s total value locked dropped 33% in two months to $37.5 billion, while DApp revenues plunged 43% in May versus the previous six months.

In contrast, staking demand has strengthened. Staking approval for US-listed ETFs and aggressive accumulation by BitMine vastly outpaced outflows despite a modest 2.7% yield.

United States

ether, eth futures, funding rate, open interest, spot etfs, etf outflows, tvl, dapp revenues, staking, bitmine