Might have something to do with pricing in further expected rate hikes? https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/cryptocurrencies/ether/ether.settlements.html
they are inflation hedges. As you’ve watched your purchasing power drop in the last 12 months, I’ve been sitting pretty on my crypto portfolio…. Oh wait.
Is there any known pre-planned event anywhere in the crypto space occurring between Sep and Dec? Like another fork, another ETH competitor ICO, stuff like that? Maybe it be something a little off-track, like the futures traders expect people to pull money from ETH and into cash to be able to do holiday shopping?
Thought of another reason why contracts beyond the front one might be lower, and it is right there on the CME settlement page ... volume. Very little volume.
Contracts beyond the front month are actually higher, until we hit the holiday season in Sep, where they dip into backwardation. It has nothing to do with volume.
This has nothing to do with the overall market. There is a discount in the Dec. futures relative to futures both before and after. It's odd, and I'm wondering, too, if there is an event then. But the planned switch to staking is sooner than that. Sept, I think? But it keeps getting pushed.
The time duration doesn't sync. Staked ETH is locked and when eligible for unlocking will then enter a queue to throttle liquidation. The process could take up to a year if all staked ETH is sold without any additional staking.