Coinbase premium points to a near-term bitcoin all-time high

U.S. investor activity coincided with renewed inflows into ETFs

As the first cryptocurrency rallied towards $121,000, the Coinbase premium reached $91.86. CryptoQuant analyst Burak Kesmeci called it a signal that bitcoin may soon set a new all-time high.

“On the hourly time frame it can be seen that the price difference on Coinbase rose to $91.86. This means that American investors are buying the asset on the exchange at a rate $91.86 higher than on Binance. Such a strong positive signal from the U.S. may indicate a potential move towards ATH,” he wrote.

At the time of writing, digital gold trades around $120,400, up 1% over the past 24 hours.

According to CoinGecko, bitcoin is 3% short of setting a new record.

ETFs

U.S. investor activity coincided with steady inflows into spot bitcoin-ETFs. From September 29 to October 2, more than $2.2bn flowed into the products — the highest since mid-September.

Cumulative net inflows since launch in January 2024 have neared $60bn. The largest remains BlackRock’s IBIT, which also set a local trading-volume record on October 2.

$GLD and $IBIT in the Top 10 ETFs by volume today, which is rare, everyone wants in on the The Debaser Trade I guess.. pic.twitter.com/vsUbQlUMTf

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 2, 2025

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the ETF ranked among the ten most-traded products, alongside SPY, QQQ and GLD.

IBIT also entered, for the first time, the top 20 funds by assets under management, exceeding $90bn. To break into the top ten, the BlackRock vehicle needs another $50bn, the expert emphasised.

Over the week, Ethereum ETFs attracted more than $1bn, and $14bn since launch.

A shake-up in the options market

Balchunas also noted that open interest in IBIT options has for the first time surpassed those of Deribit. After the September 26 expiry, open positions on the fund reached about $38bn versus $32bn on the derivatives exchange.

$IBIT has surpassed Coinbase’s Derbit platform as the largest venue for bitcoin options with $38b in open interest. I told y’all ETFs are no joke.. Fat crypto margins in trouble. Nice find by @sidharth_shukla pic.twitter.com/LUcnpW5g4I

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 2, 2025

“I told you that ETFs are serious. Fat crypto margins are under threat,” the analyst commented.

Balchunas said that among its competitors, the BlackRock fund shows an absolute monopoly in the options segment, adding:

“The options market tends toward a ‘winner-takes-all’ model, unlike the assets under management of the products, which are distributed more evenly.”

Earlier, the CryptoQuant expert under the pseudonym PelinayPA confirmed bitcoin’s “healthy dynamics.” Analysts also identified conditions for the first cryptocurrency to rise to $200,000.