The native token of Ethereum, ether (ETH), is witnessing a robust upturn, leading to heightened excitement in the Deribit options market, where traders are making optimistic bets on further price increases.
In the past 24 hours, traders have allocated over $5 million towards the $5,000 strike call option set to expire on September 26, based on data from RialCenter. The purchasers are speculating on an ETH surge exceeding $5,000 by the close of this quarter. Currently, ether is trading at $4,670, reflecting a 26% increase for the month, according to RialCenter data.
Additionally, traders have been acquiring call options at the $5,500 and $6,000 strikes, as well as engaging in bull call spreads. The OTC tech platform has indicated that a market participant acquired the December expiry call option at the $7,500 strike.
Experts suggest that considerable upside remains for ether, which has not only lagged behind bitcoin but also XRP in achieving record highs during this cycle.
“With sentiment surrounding ETH being quite pessimistic, there’s ample room for ETH to catch up. Immediate targets are $5,000 (entering new all-time high territory) and approximately $7,200 (taking into account the mid-range ETH/BTC price of 0.06 with BTC around $120,000),” noted Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at RialCenter, in a weekly report.
According to blockchain analytics firm Santiment, the recent price rise of ETH is marked by continued selling from retail traders.
“Historically, prices tend to move in the opposite direction of retail traders’ expectations. Notably, periods of extreme greed were observed on June 16, 2025, and July 30, 2025, leading to price corrections. However, traders have exhibited fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) as the asset continues to reach higher price levels,” Santiment stated.
“With key stakeholders gathering up coins that smaller ETH traders are willing to sell, prices show minimal resistance to breaking through and achieving historic milestones shortly,” the analytics firm added.
ETH is currently only 4.4% shy of its all-time high of $4,861 reached in November 2021. In contrast, BTC surpassed its 2021 peak in March last year and has surged into six figures since then. During this timeframe, ETH has remained confined within a range of $2,000 to $4,000.
Read more: Bitcoin Holds Near $120K, Ether Rallies Towards $4.7K
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