On December 27, according to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, Ethereum's contract trading volume this year far exceeded previous years' levels. Taking Binance as an example, over the past year, Ethereum futures trading volume exceeded $6.74 trillion, almost twice that of 2024, which has already set a record. Therefore, it can be said that Ethereum is one of the assets with the largest trading volume in the global derivatives market in 2025, highlighting the strong speculative demand.

Over the past year, the spot-to-futures ratio was approximately 0.2, meaning that for every $1 invested in ETH on the Binance spot market, nearly $5 was invested in futures contracts. This ratio is characteristic of highly leveraged markets, reflecting extreme speculation on Ethereum in 2025. The record-breaking trading volume combined with such an imbalance indicates that futures largely determine Ethereum's price movements.
As a result, Ethereum's price volatility this year has often been amplified, disorderly, and highly dependent on liquidations, ultimately leading to a new all-time high with only a few dollars of marginal gains.