ETH's derivative market saw reduced activity as traders pivoted their approach.

Ethereum's recent uptick of 7% in price on May 3 stirred up short liquidations in its derivative trading sector, reaching a two-month high, as indicated by Coinglass. Statistics provided by the on-chain data provider unveiled a record of $35 million in short positions being liquidated on that specific day. Correspondingly, long liquidations amounted to merely $7.16 million.

Liquidations come into play within an asset's derivative market when a trader's position is forcibly shut down due to insufficient funds for its maintenance. Short liquidations transpire when an asset's value suddenly spikes, causing traders with open positions anticipating a price drop to exit their positions. Santiment's data reflects the altcoin closing above $3000 on May 3 after consistently trading below that threshold at the month's commencement.

Despite continuing its upward momentum at the current moment, ETH's price soared by more than 5% in the last 24 hours. Presently, the premier altcoin is priced at $3,104. Notably, data from Coinglass also indicates that the price surge did not ignite considerable activity in ETH's derivative market, with trading volume in that sector merely elevating by 2%.

Moreover, the Futures open interest for the coin observed a marginal 3% increase over the same duration. At present, ETH's Futures open interest stands at $10.68 billion. In addition, the Options volume for ETH plummeted by over 50% during the reviewed period.

Options trading offers participants the privilege to buy or sell an asset on a specified date. Typically, a decline in ETH's Options volume signals minimized speculation on its forthcoming price movements as market players adopt a wait-and-see attitude to discern the coin's market trajectory. The combination of the slight rise in ETH's Futures trading volume and the descending Options volume hints that participants in the coin's derivative market are embracing a cautious stance, refraining from substantial bets on its upcoming price trends.