Ethereum's (ETH) recent climb above $3,000 has traders split on what comes next—either momentum builds for another leg up, or the market is priming itself for a volatility spike that could swing either way.

Leveraged Bets Dominate

On-chain data from CryptoQuant reveals something interesting: Ethereum's futures market is heating up much faster than its spot market. The futures-to-spot volume ratio has rocketed from the mid-5 range to nearly 6.9, marking the highest speculative appetite among major digital assets.

Compare that to Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL), which are hanging out in a more stable 3.5 to 4.5 zone. The widening gap tells us traders are increasingly choosing leveraged directional bets over simply buying and holding ETH.

This shift hints at two possibilities: either traders expect short-term price swings they can profit from, or they're positioning ahead of Ethereum-specific catalysts on the horizon. Either way, the steady climb in this ratio shows building conviction—and when derivatives positioning dominates like this, moves tend to be sharper and faster in whichever direction they break.

Technical Picture Points Up

Crypto trader Scient voiced some caution about Ethereum's slow grind higher, noting these types of structures can get wiped out quickly by a few aggressive moves. Still, he acknowledges the lower-time-frame trend is holding up.

Ethereum has broken out of its local 1-hour range, flipped that level into support, reclaimed its local downtrend, and pushed into bullish territory—all signs of building upside momentum.

Scient's outlook suggests that if ETH stays above $2,990, price could extend toward $3,400 before running into any meaningful resistance or corrective pressure.