Ethereum hits 15.19M users, but where does leverage stand now?

ambcryptoPublished on 2026-02-09Last updated on 2026-02-09

Abstract

Ethereum's network activity has surged, reaching a record 15.19 million monthly active addresses—a 38% increase over the past month and a 114% year-over-year rise. Despite this on-chain growth, trader sentiment and market behavior remain unsettled. Funding rates have turned positive on exchanges like BitMEX, hitting 0.049%, indicating aggressive long positioning and rising leverage. However, this has not translated into significant price gains, with ETH stabilizing in the $2,000–$2,200 range. The RSI shows short-term relief, but with leverage building and spot demand uncertain, the risk of a pullback remains if crowded long positions unwind.

Ethereum [ETH] network activity is picking up pace. At the same time, market positioning feels far less settled. Especially since sentiment is swinging so quickly right now!

This split between what’s happening on-chain and how traders are behaving makes things interesting for ETH.

Activity at a record high

Monthly active addresses on Ethereum climbed to 15.19 million – A new ATH! The jump has been huge and consistent; activity is up 38% over the past month, 71% across the last six months, and a striking 114% YOY.

Source: X

More users are interacting with the Ethereum network again too, whether through transfers, applications, or smart contracts. The pace of the recovery has been striking, especially after a tame stretch late last year.

Put simply, Ethereum is up and at it!

Is the Funding now crowded?

Funding rates have swung positively on some exchanges, most notably BitMEX. Its ETH funding rate jumped to 0.049%, the highest level since October and well above the late-October peak near 0.03%.

There’s been aggressive long positioning and rising leverage across the board.

Source: Cryptoquant

At the same time, Binance seemed interesting too. ETH funding there moved from deeply negative levels around -0.025% on 05 February, back towards neutral. Shorts are backing off too, while new Open Interest is being powered by longs.

So far, such positive funding hasn’t caused upside. However, it does raise the risk of pullbacks if crowded long positions are forced to unwind.

Stable, but no breakout… yet

After the most recent sell-off, ETH has found temporary footing around the $2,000-$2,200 zone. This range-bound move makes clear that selling pressure has eased. Even so, buyers aren’t quite convinced just yet.

Source: TradingView

The RSI lifted to the low 30s, a short-term relief. Volume also calmed down after the recent spike. So, the urgency may be fading, perhaps.

With leverage building in derivatives and the price still fragile, the next move might be dependent on spot demand.

Final Thoughts

  • Ethereum’s on-chain use just hit a record 15.19M active addresses!
  • BitMEX funding was at 0.049%, with the altcoin’s price stuck on the charts. 
Next: Aave’s $4.65B stress engine – From Bitcoin liquidation shock to protocol yield!
Share
  • Share
  • Tweet

Related Questions

QWhat is the new all-time high for monthly active addresses on the Ethereum network mentioned in the article?

AThe new all-time high for monthly active addresses on the Ethereum network is 15.19 million.

QAccording to the article, what was the year-over-year (YOY) growth in Ethereum's network activity?

AThe year-over-year (YOY) growth in Ethereum's network activity was a striking 114%.

QOn which exchange did the ETH funding rate jump to 0.049%, its highest level since October?

AThe ETH funding rate jumped to 0.049% on BitMEX, which was its highest level since October.

QWhat price zone did Ethereum find temporary footing in after the most recent sell-off?

AAfter the most recent sell-off, Ethereum found temporary footing in the $2,000-$2,200 price zone.

QWhat does the article suggest the next price move for ETH might be dependent on, given the building leverage and fragile price?

AThe article suggests that the next price move for ETH might be dependent on spot demand, given the building leverage in derivatives and the still fragile price.

Related Reads

Breaking the DeFi Cascading Liquidation Curse: Vitalik Proposes a New Solution

Vitalik Buterin has proposed a new DeFi design to eliminate the automatic liquidation mechanism that causes market instability during sharp downturns. The current system, used by protocols like Aave, triggers forced sales when collateral value falls below a threshold, often exacerbating price drops and creating systemic selling pressure. Buterin's alternative model is based on splitting an asset like ETH into two synthetic option-like tokens, P and N, pegged to a price index. Their combined value always equals one ETH. Instead of sudden liquidation, a position's value gradually drifts from its target peg if the market moves. Users must proactively rebalance their holdings to maintain their desired exposure, transferring the management burden from the protocol to the user or automated tools. A key advantage is the reduced reliance on real-time oracles. Pricing decisions are deferred until contract expiry, allowing for more robust, fault-tolerant oracle designs. This removes a clear liquidation threshold that speculators can target for manipulation or MEV extraction. However, significant challenges remain. Frequent rebalancing could incur high slippage and transaction costs, necessitating new liquidity provider models. The design is better suited for hedging instruments than for stablecoins requiring a rigid 1:1 peg. While not an immediate replacement for existing systems, the proposal challenges the foundational assumption that instantaneous forced liquidation is an unavoidable necessity in DeFi, opening the door for fundamentally different risk management architectures.

marsbit4m ago

Breaking the DeFi Cascading Liquidation Curse: Vitalik Proposes a New Solution

marsbit4m ago

The End of Single-Factor Cryptography

The article "The End of Single-Factor Crypto" posits a fundamental shift in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. It argues the era where crypto asset valuations were predominantly driven by, and correlated with, Bitcoin's price is ending. The space is bifurcating into two distinct economies: endogenous and exogenous. The endogenous economy represents traditional crypto, where token and project values are directly tied to crypto market prices. The emerging exogenous economy comprises projects and businesses that may utilize blockchain technology or tokens but derive their fundamental value from external, non-crypto factors like consumer demand, subscription revenue, or real-world utility. Examples include AI inference platforms like Venice, fintech lenders using blockchain for efficiency, and stablecoin/payment infrastructure companies acquired by giants like Mastercard and Stripe. This shift means investment analysis must change. For exogenous assets, evaluating traditional business fundamentals—such as revenue streams, unit economics, and competitive moats—becomes more critical than tracking Bitcoin charts. While endogenous assets like Bitcoin remain relevant, the growth of the exogenous category is driven by measurable demand independent of crypto price cycles, paving the way for a new, more diversified market phase. Consequently, crypto is evolving from a single-factor, reflexive asset class into a multifaceted ecosystem with varied drivers and investment theses.

marsbit4m ago

The End of Single-Factor Cryptography

marsbit4m ago

Morning Post | Bitmine Plans to Raise $300 Million Through Preferred Stock Issuance; Polymarket Accuses Kalshi of Commercial Espionage

ChainCatcher's Daily Crypto Brief: Key developments from the past 24 hours include significant funding moves, regulatory actions, and market predictions. Bitmine announced a $300 million preferred stock fundraising. Polymarket accused rival prediction platform Kalshi of corporate espionage, citing numerous suspicious coincidences in product launches, a claim Kalshi strongly denied. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a joint "Disruption Week" anti-fraud operation with companies like Coinbase and Meta, froze over $3.8 million in cryptocurrency linked to scams. In infrastructure news, Macau completed its integration with the multi-central bank digital currency bridge, mBridge, aiming to build efficient cross-border payment channels. Cosmos Labs acquired the block explorer Mintscan. Market-wise, Geoffrey Kendrick, Standard Chartered's Head of Digital Assets Research, stated Bitcoin is nearing a bottom around $63,000, maintaining a year-end target of $100,000. He noted stability in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF holdings. Ahead of SpaceX's anticipated IPO, internal insiders at Rocket Lab (RKLB) sold over $18.41 million in stock. In tokenization, Goldman Sachs partnered with Apex and Archax to launch a tokenized real estate fund. The meme token tracker GMGN reported the top trending tokens: on Ethereum, HEX, SHIB, LINK, PEPE, mUSD; on Solana, TROLL, swarms, WORLDCUP, neet, Buttcoin; and on Base, PEPE, toby, ODDS, ELSA, SKI.

链捕手19m ago

Morning Post | Bitmine Plans to Raise $300 Million Through Preferred Stock Issuance; Polymarket Accuses Kalshi of Commercial Espionage

链捕手19m ago

55TB to 28TB? The Rumor and Panic Behind Rubin's Memory Being Halved

Title: 55TB to 28TB? The Rumor and Panic Behind the Potential Halving of Rubin's Memory. On June 4th, a report from SemiAnalysis suggested NVIDIA's next-gen Vera Rubin NVL72 AI rack may ship with roughly 28TB of SOCAMM DRAM per rack instead of the anticipated 55TB, primarily using 96GB modules. This sparked a market panic, causing Micron's stock to drop over 10% on fears of halved memory demand. However, the article argues this panic is misguided for several key reasons. First, SOCAMM modules are socketed and upgradeable, not soldered. Lower initial configuration doesn't mean permanent demand loss. Second, the primary driver is a severe 2026 LPDDR5X supply shortage, not diminished need. NVIDIA is likely prioritizing rack shipments with available components. Third, with fixed total LPDDR5X supply, using less per rack could allow NVIDIA to ship *more* racks, not necessarily reducing overall memory orders. Micron's sharp drop was also attributed to a broader semiconductor sell-off triggered by Broadcom's earnings, with the SemiAnalysis report providing a convenient narrative for profit-taking after Micron's massive rally. In summary: the report on lower default configurations is likely accurate, but interpreting it as a demand collapse is wrong. The real risk for Micron lies in its reportedly minimal HBM4 share for Rubin, not in potentially flexible SOCAMM demand. The sell-off appears more like a correction amplified by coinciding negative catalysts.

marsbit35m ago

55TB to 28TB? The Rumor and Panic Behind Rubin's Memory Being Halved

marsbit35m ago

Exclusive from Yingke | Tang Wenbin's 'Yuanli Lingji' Merges with Logistics Robotics Company, and Secures Investment from Zhipu, SenseTime, Jieyue, and Others

Exclusive report: Embodied AI company "Yuanli Lingji" recently completed a new round of financing from major AI model firms including Zhipu AI, Stepfun, and SenseTime, alongside continued investments from industrial backers like Huaqin and SAIC Hengxu. Founded in March 2025 by Tang Wenbin, former co-founder and CTO of Megvii, Yuanli Lingji is a general-purpose embodied AI model company. In a notable move, the company has merged with logistics robotics firm "Atomix" (formerly known as Yuanli Juhe) through a share acquisition. Atomix, which originated from Megvii's logistics robotics business led by Tang in 2016 and was spun off in July 2024, has grown to become the world's second-largest supplier of pallet shuttle robots, with annual revenue nearing 1 billion RMB and over 500 projects globally for clients like Uniqlo and CATL. This merger aims to break the industry's "data deadlock" by combining Atomix's extensive real-world operational data from more than 20 countries with Yuanli Lingji's model training capabilities. The company's embodied AI model "DM0" utilizes a cross-domain training approach, integrating internet semantics, autonomous driving rules, and robotics data to achieve hardware-agnostic, precise manipulation even with a compact 2.4B parameter size. The collective investment from key AI players and the strategic merger signal a shift in the competitive landscape, as major model companies pivot from language tokens to physical actions ("from Token to Action"). The industry is entering a consolidation phase where hardware, AI models, data, and application scenarios converge to scale embodied intelligence, a trend mirrored by recent moves from giants like ByteDance and Skild AI.

marsbit43m ago

Exclusive from Yingke | Tang Wenbin's 'Yuanli Lingji' Merges with Logistics Robotics Company, and Secures Investment from Zhipu, SenseTime, Jieyue, and Others

marsbit43m ago

Trading

Spot
Futures

Hot Articles

Discussions

Welcome to the HTX Community. Here, you can stay informed about the latest platform developments and gain access to professional market insights. Users' opinions on the price of ETH (ETH) are presented below.

活动图片

Top Questions