Crypto Rally: OKB and FART Climb Sharply While Ether Eyes Record Levels

Altcoin Surge Intensifies as Ether Approaches Record Highs and Derivatives Markets Signal Bullish Sentiment

A surge in altcoin prices accompanied ether’s rapid ascent toward all-time highs on Wednesday, as open interest in ether futures rose sharply—highlighting growing investor conviction and capital inflows.

Major tokens including OKB, PUMP, BNSOL, JITOSOL, and SOL posted double-digit percentage gains in early trading. Meanwhile, ether (ETH) continued its upward momentum, drawing significant market attention.

“Bitcoin’s modest 0.4% gain—and its position 2% below levels from a month ago—underscores a broader shift in market preference toward altcoins,” noted Alex Kuptsikevich, Chief Market Analyst at FxPro. “We’re likely seeing a reallocation from BTC into altcoins rather than a full-blown sentiment reversal, especially with equity indices like the S&P 500 and Nikkei 225 pushing to record highs.”

Derivatives Markets Reinforce Bullish Outlook

Open interest in ether futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) climbed from 1.5 million to 1.85 million ETH over the past week, with the annualized three-month basis exceeding 10%—a strong signal of bullish trader positioning. By contrast, bitcoin’s basis remains near 7.5%.

Despite ether’s strong performance, funding rates on major offshore exchanges suggest healthy market structure rather than excessive speculation, with most top tokens maintaining stable rates around 10% annualized.

Elsewhere, Monero (XMR) saw open interest reach its highest level since December. The token dropped to $245—its lowest since April—indicating traders may be shorting rallies to profit from the downside.

On Deribit, traders showed strong interest in ETH calls with strikes at $5,000 and above. Call options were priced at a premium across tenors, while 30-day implied volatility (ETH DVOL) held steady around 70%. BTC’s implied volatility was similarly stable, though OTC activity on Paradigm showed rising interest in high-strike BTC calls—particularly the $160,000 strike.

Key Token Developments

• OKB surged to an all-time high of $142 (+200%) after OKX announced a permanent supply cap of 21 million tokens—one of its largest token supply reductions to date. The announcement coincided with a major “PP upgrade” to X Layer, OKX’s Polygon-based chain, enhancing throughput to 5,000 TPS, drastically reducing gas fees, and introducing gasless USDT withdrawals. OKX will sunset OKTChain, halting OKT trading on Aug. 13 and converting balances to OKB beginning Aug. 15.
• Eden Network revealed it will wind down operations, including Eden RPC and Bundles, due to unsustainable competition in the MEV relay and block-building space. Launched in 2021 to maximize miner and validator revenue from MEV, Eden has lost ground following Ethereum’s Merge and increased market consolidation.
• FARTCOIN jumped 17%, with whale wallets holding over $1M boosting supply by 2%, while “smart money” wallets grew their positions by 3% over 24 hours. The token’s MACD momentum remains bullish, and a breakout above $1.74 is likely if current demand persists. Key downside support is near $0.74.

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