ETH is showing two very different moods across derivatives.

On Deribit, ETH perpetual funding just jumped to 0.023%, compared with a 0.0068% previous rate and 0.0032% mean.

That means longs are paying up for exposure. Futures traders are getting aggressively bullish.

ETH also closed around $2.52K on September 12, so the move higher is clearly attracting leverage.

But the options market is telling a different story.

Long dated $ETH options are showing unusually weak implied volatility and skew, suggesting options traders aren't pricing the same level of upside conviction. If anything, there's more caution around future price uncertainty and downside risk.

Personally, this divergence is what catches my attention.

Perpetuals are saying, “I want long exposure now.”

Options are saying, “I'm not so sure about what happens next.”

That doesn't automatically mean ETH is about to dump.

But when funding gets this stretched, I start watching for whether spot demand can keep absorbing the leverage.

If ETH keeps pushing higher while funding normalizes, that's healthier.

If price stalls while funding stays elevated, those crowded longs could become the fuel for the next flush.

So I'm bullish on the momentum, but cautious about the positioning.

The question isn't whether traders are bullish on ETH.

They're clearly showing that.

The question is whether they're too bullish too quickly. #BTC Price Analysis# #Macro Insights# #Meme Alpha#