Analysts have observed a significant shift in ether options open interest towards call options, indicating investor anticipation of potential increased institutional demand stemming from the approval of ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Last Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved ether spot ETFs, prompting investors to position themselves for potential market movements. Unlike bitcoin ETFs, which commenced trading immediately after approval, ether ETFs may take a few weeks or months to go live.

QCP Capital analysts expressed a positive structural outlook for ether in light of the recent approvals, highlighting that the largest increases in ether options open interest over the past 24 hours have been primarily in calls.

Data from the Deribit derivatives exchange corroborates this trend, indicating that the ether put-call ratio for all expirations now stands at 0.56, signaling bullish sentiment as call volume exceeds put volume.

Furthermore, implied volatility (IV) for near-term ether calls surpasses that for put options, suggesting an anticipation of upward price movement or greater demand for call options relative to put options.

The analysts anticipate that ether frontend volatility could persist at 15-20 vols above bitcoin, with ether skew likely to remain in favor of calls. However, they caution that a potential breakout for the ether price may be contingent upon further clarity on the S-1 approvals.

The Block's Data Dashboard reflects a spike in ether IV following the SEC's approval of eight spot ether ETFs last week. Although IV has since decreased slightly, it remains elevated compared to bitcoin.

Options serve as financial derivatives granting the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset (in this case, ether or bitcoin) at a predetermined price before a specified date.

Despite a modest 0.5% increase in ether's price over the past 24 hours, reaching $3,922, according to The Block’s Price Page, the GM 30 Index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, rose by 0.43% to 146.98 during the same period.