Ethereum is showing a growing disconnect between price action and derivatives positioning on Binance.

Cumulative Net Taker Volume (CVD) fell from +1.94 billion on August 21 to -1.36 billion on October 5, a 3.30 billion reversal and the lowest reading since August 6. Despite that sharp shift toward aggressive taker selling, ETH remains roughly 44% above its August 6 level, showing that persistent sell-side pressure has so far failed to erase the broader advance.

The divergence is also visible in open interest.

Binance ETH open interest stands near $3.3 billion, up from about $2.3 billion on August 6, or roughly 43%.

More importantly, CVD has been printing lower lows while open-interest lows have generally moved higher.

That combination is consistent with leveraged exposure remaining elevated as aggressive sellers increasingly dominate order flow, rather than a simple broad reduction in positioning.

This structure can be constructive for price if ETH continues to absorb the selling.

A market carrying elevated open interest while CVD becomes deeply negative can reflect growing short-side pressure against a resilient price trend.

When short positions become dominant, perpetual funding rates can fall or turn negative as shorts pay longs.

Persistent negative funding is not automatically bullish, but if price remains firm, later funding normalization and short covering can add buying pressure and increase short-squeeze risk.

Written by Amr Taha