Ether's derivative market looks overheating amid the cryptocurrency's rally to new record highs.
The sale gives Christie's a chance to "dip its toes" in crypto, said a New York representative.
Bitcoin's price is in uncharted territory while its volatility remains high.
“We are at all-time-highs territory [and] the market still has to make up its mind" about next resistance or supporting levels, says one broker.
The market is bullish on both cryptocurrencies, for different reasons.
With all this bullish bitcoin activity, the ETH/BTC pair has gone bearish, a sign traders are selling ether for bitcoin.
Ether has more than doubled in value this year, outperforming bitcoin.
Bitcoin and ether had record-breaking days while trending more together.
The Chicago exchange has now traded 77 ETH contracts after going live on Sunday.
DeFi and the prospect of trading futures have crypto investors scooping up ETH.
The cryptocurrency has gained 30% so far this week.
The amount of crypto in USD values locked in decentralized finance has reached $32.8 billion, a new high.
Bitcoin has been trending higher for two days but ether is in the spotlight now.
Investor excitement ahead of the CME's planned ether futures contract is one reason for the price push.
The last time bitcoin’s closing price was under $30,000 was Jan. 1, according to CoinDesk 20 data.