Equally Bitcoin toll dropped beneath $55,000 on March 15, Ether (ETH) pulled back to ostend the $i,750 level as support. This signals optimism from professional traders despite the 12% drib that occurred after Ether price peaked at $1,950 on March 13.

While Ether may be bullish from the price perspective, contempo news surrounding the protocol hasn't been positive. Last week, Cointelegraph reported the ascent tensions betwixt miners and developers every bit they clashed over the EIP-1559 proposal, which is expected to reduce fee volatility and significantly impact miner revenue.

Moreover, the surging Ethereum network fees caused the volumes at decentralized substitution (DEX) to decrease while lending a heave to competitors similar the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).

Ether price, USD. Source: TradingView

Despite repeatedly testing the sub-$1,750 level over the past week, Ether has shown strength. The upcoming Berlin upgrade on Apr 14 is expected to drastically reduce network congestion, therefore providing the necessary conviction investors needed during the contempo turbulence.

It is worth noting that despite the contempo price drib, futures contract liquidations remained relatively low. This is in stark contrast to Feb. 21 and Feb. 22, when $ane.4 billion long positions were forcefully terminated and lead to an dispatch of Ether's downtrend.

Ether futures contracts amass liquidations. Source: Bybt

Considering how the March 15 and 16 long futures contracts aggregate liquidations remained beneath $270 million, this shows that buyers are not highly leveraged. This leaves room for farther bullish bets and it also removes incentives for bears who are trying to suppress the price.

The futures premium normalized

Basis is also oft referred to as the futures premium, and it measures the premium of longer-term futures contracts to the electric current spot market levels.

A 12% to 24% annualized premium (basis) is interpreted every bit neutral, a situation known every bit contango. This toll difference is caused past sellers demanding more money to withhold settlement longer.

Whenever this indicator fades or turns negative it creates an alarming reddish flag. This situation is known as backwardation and indicates that the market is rapidly turning bearish.

OKEx three-month ETH futures basis. Source: Skew

The above chart shows that the indicator recently peaked at 35% on March 14 as Ether held the $1,800 resistance. Since so, it has reverted to a neutral-to-bullish 23% level.

Because the 12% driblet since the $one,950 elevation on March 13, the futures premium remaining healthy is a bullish indicator and signals forcefulness.

The options skew is on the verge of turning bullish

To confirm the bullish trend, investors should look at the Ether options markets. Phone call options let the heir-apparent to learn Ether at a fixed toll on contract expiry. On the other hand, put options provide insurance for buyers and protect confronting price drops.

Whenever market makers and professional traders are leaning bullish, they will demand a higher premium on call (buy) options. This tendency will cause a negative 25% delta skew indicator.

BTC options 25% delta skew. Source: laevitas.ch

Over the past month, there hasn't been a unmarried occurrence of a positive delta skew. Therefore, there is no evidence that options traders demanded more significant premiums for downside protection.

This data is very encouraging, considering that Ether failed to create a new best high, and withal faces enormous negative pressure from miners that oppose the block subsidy cut.

If the $1,750 support continues to hold, investors volition likely proceeds farther conviction that the uptrend has not been cleaved.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves gamble. You should conduct your ain enquiry when making a decision.