Ether (ETH) saw a significant 15% price increase from November 20 to November 27, reaching nearly $3,500, coinciding with a surge in Ether futures open interest to a record $22 billion. This growth is attributed not only to bullish sentiment but also to various trading strategies, including hedging and neutral positioning by institutional investors. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) now holds $2.5 billion of the ETH futures open interest, indicating heightened institutional participation. Despite the increase in open interest and price, the demand for leveraged long positions among retail investors remains low, as evidenced by the neutral perpetual futures funding rate.