Ether (ETH) price has gained 88% since Nov, astonishing even the most bullish investors equally the top altcoin secured a 2020 high at $750.

Aside from the upcoming CME ETH futures launch scheduled for Feb. eight, the phenomenal growth of the total value locked in decentralized finance protocols also played a major part.

Total Value Locked, USD. Source: DeFi Pulse

As the above data indicates, investors are fifty-fifty more than confident that Eth2 has been a success, despite the real potential of delays and implementation hurdles.

Some other possible bullish factor in the background is the contempo ii-year low in ETH miner balances. This certainly eases potential selling pressure level and opens room for further bullish continuation.

Over the past 3 months, the open interest on Ether options grew by 150% to a full of $880 million. This incredible build-up occurred as the cryptocurrency broke the $700 resistance and reached its highest toll since May 2018.

Ether options open interest. Source: Crytorank.io

The put-call ratio flipped bullish

Past measuring whether more than activity is going through phone call (buy) options or put (sell) options, ane tin estimate the overall market place sentiment. Generally speaking, call options are used for bullish strategies, whereas put options for neutral to bearish ones.

Ether options open up interest put/call ratio. Source: Cryptorank.io

Despite the recent price rally, the put/call ratio has gone downward considerably. This movement indicates that the more than bullish phone call options have been dominating volumes. One should expect precisely the contrary whenever traders lock in profits or set for a potential downside.

That's a hit contrast to the 0.94 level two weeks ago, which indicated that put options were well-balanced with the neutral to bullish call options.

Options data shows traders look another 20% hike to $880

The odds of the current pick trades are calculated according to the Blackness and Scholes model. Deribit exchange presents this information as "delta." In curt, these are the percent-based odds for each strike.

Ether Jan. 29 call options delta. Source: Deribit

According to the higher up information, the $880 strike for January. 25 has a 34% hazard of occurring, while the most traded $960 strike holds a 25% odd co-ordinate to the options pricing model.

Take notice that the statistical model tends to be overly conservative, as even the $720 strike holds a mere 59% odd.

The March expiry is as well extremely bullish

With 86 days left until March 2021 death, the odds of Ether price topping $880 is even more than likely.

Ether Sept. 25 call options delta. Source: Deribit

The same $880 strike at present has a 49% odd according to the Black and Scholes pricing model, whereas the staggering $1,120 death holds 33%.

Equally shown above, the options for March 2021 are trading a relevant corporeality of volume and cost $114 apiece. This data is indisputable prove of traders' bullish sentiment.

Futures marketplace data reflects bullish sentiment

An even ameliorate fashion to approximate professional person investors' sentiment toward the market is to clarify the futures markets premium. This is measured by the difference between longer-term future contracts and the current Ether spot price.

March 2021 Ether futures premium. Source: Digital Avails Data

The chart in a higher place shows that the indicator peaked at v.8% on December. 19 and it reached the same level again on Dec. 28 every bit Ether price made a multi-year loftier. A sustained futures premium in a higher place 3.5% reflects optimism, although it is far from excessive.

The electric current iv.3% charge per unit is equal to an 18% annualized premium and is significantly higher than the levels seen in previous months. This shows that despite reaching a swing high at $750 levels, professional traders remain confident in Ether's future potential.

It might be also soon to determine whether the derivatives market will reduce its optimism, but for the moment, bulls seem to be fully in command.

While there is always the possibility of a correction in Ether price, information technology is unlikely to be stiff enough to cause havoc as the market is not showing any signs of excessive optimism.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the autho r and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves hazard. You lot should acquit your own research when making a decision.