GWEI Surges 18% as U.S. Trading Desks Drive Volume, Funding Rate Turns Negative

ETHGas’s native token GWEI rallied 18% over the past 24 hours, sharply outpacing the broader crypto market’s 1.72% gain to $2.15 trillion, according to AMBCrypto. The move has been driven largely by a surge in trading activity from U.S. desks, even as derivatives data flashes a more cautious signal about the rally’s staying power.

U.S. desks lead the charge

CoinMarketCap data cited by AMBCrypto shows GWEI’s daily trading volume spiked to $2.09 million, a fresh high for the period. That figure alone accounted for roughly 12.59% of the token’s total trading volume, making U.S. venues the single largest source of activity behind the move.

Across all exchanges, total trading volume for GWEI climbed 9.53% to reach $16.58 million at press time. A rising price paired with expanding volume has historically been read as a sign of genuine bullish momentum, suggesting the rally has real demand behind it rather than thin, easily-reversed trading.

Futures market hints at a short squeeze

The picture looks different in GWEI’s perpetual futures market. The open-interest-weighted funding rate, a gauge of whether positioning leans bullish or bearish, has turned negative at -0.38%, according to CoinGlass data referenced by AMBCrypto, indicating traders are tilted toward short positions even as spot price climbs.

Spot market behaviour tells a contrasting story. Sell pressure on spot exchanges collapsed from $16.48 million on June 29 to just $805,100 at press time, and the spot exchange netflow showed only a slim $26,370 gap between buyers and sellers over the past day — pointing to holders becoming increasingly reluctant to sell.

Taken together, the negative funding rate alongside thinning spot sell pressure could mark the early stages of a short squeeze, where short sellers push the price down to trigger stop losses before a sharper upward move forces them to cover.

Liquidity clusters sit above current price

GWEI’s liquidation heatmap shows heavier order clusters stacked above the current price, according to CoinGlass data cited in the report. Levels with heavier liquidity concentration tend to act as magnets, pulling price toward them over time.

Thin order depth below the current price would limit how far any pullback could travel, according to the analysis. Overall, momentum still favors the continuation of the upswing, though resting orders below the price leave some downside risk on the table for traders watching the token’s next move.

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