Ethereum traders are aggressively positioning for upside, with Deribit data showing a massive build-up in open interest around the $6,500 strike. According to the latest figures, open interest tied to these calls has now surpassed $380 million, making it the single largest concentration among all ETH option strikes on the platform.
Over the past 24 hours, traders recorded 95,579 put contracts traded against 85,652 call contracts, producing a put/call ratio of 1.12 for daily volume, a relatively balanced short-term picture.
However, the open interest distribution tells a very different story: calls dominate at higher strike prices, particularly between the $5,000–$7,000 range, where commitment to bullish positioning is clearly concentrated.
The chart shows that total call open interest stands at 1.56 million contracts, significantly higher than the 899,639 put contracts currently open. This skews the overall put/call ratio to 0.58, signaling that the majority of traders are betting on upward price action rather than downside protection. The notional value of all ETH options tracked in the chart now exceeds $7.8 billion, reflecting deep engagement ahead of potential catalysts.
The standout observation is the cluster of blue bars, representing call open interest, rising sharply at strikes like $5,000, $5,500, $6,000, and especially $6,500, where interest peaks. This indicates a market increasingly confident in a medium-term move higher, with traders prioritizing leveraged directional exposure at key breakout levels.
Such positioning often emerges when traders expect heightened volatility or anticipate strong fundamentals aligning with upcoming market events. In this case, the aggressive accumulation of upside calls suggests that a growing cohort sees room for Ethereum to rally sharply from current levels, making the $6,500 strike the most critical technical and psychological target in the options market.