Data shows traders planning to push FIL above $100

Derivatives data and recent protocol developments suggest retail traders have turned bullish on FIL, which has gained 65% over the past 30 days to its highest price since June 8.
FIL has gained 65% in the past 30 days, reaching its highest price since June 8. The recent upward momentum has been accelerated again after the partnership with Chainlink’s oracle protocol on August 6, which allows projects to join their funding program to accelerate the development of hybrid smart contracts, which utilize code running on the blockchain while managing the data calculation process outside the chain.

In the first half of the year, the combination of many factors triggered the all-time high of $235 on April 1, but this momentum has obviously disappeared long ago, as FIL is currently 67% below this level. This article will explore what triggered FIL's rebound and whether these driving factors still exist.
China's mining activity fuels investor expectations
Filecoin is a decentralized cloud-based data storage network that allows its users to earn rewards by selling their excess storage space on an open source platform. Built-in economic incentives ensure that files are stored reliably and for a long time.
The network’s storage capacity surpassed 2.5 exabytes in February, drawing positive comments from influencers like billionaire investor and co-founder of the Gemini exchange Cameron Winklevoss.
“Network storage capacity, active miners, and number of Github contributors continue to grow on the @Filecoin $FIL network. Not surprising to see price surge.”
— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) March 17, 2021
On March 17, Grayscale Investments, the digital currency asset management company behind the GBTC Trust, announced the launch of its Filecoin investment tool.
On March 25, a $23 million Filecoin ecosystem fund was announced, backed by large Chinese investment groups including Distributed Capital, SNZ Capital, and Neo’s EcoFund.
New smart contract features are expected to be launched, and FIL's daily issuance is cut
On March 31, Qtum founder Patrick Dai said that the protocol is working to implement Filecoin’s smart contracts through the Qtum network.
On April 10, Martin Gaspar, a research analyst at CrossTower exchange, told Cointelegraph that due to the shortage of PoW mining machines, there has been a lot of demand from Chinese miners. Gaspar added that these miners “are required to post FIL tokens as collateral, leading to demand for the token.”
Finally, on April 15, Filecoin changed its supply economics, reducing its daily issuance from 648,000 FIL to 365,000. The slashing could have led to a perception of scarcity for the token. In turn, it could have caused retail investors and miners to accelerate their investments ahead of the event.
Data suggests retail activity is increasing Perpetual futures contracts, also known as inverse swaps, have an implicit interest rate that is typically charged every eight hours to ensure there is no imbalance in swap risk.
Whales, arbitrage systems, and market makers avoid these instruments due to their variable funding rates. When longs (buyers) demand more leverage, they are the ones who pay the fees. When shorts (sellers) use more leverage, the opposite happens, creating negative funding rates.

The above data clearly shows that the funding rate surged between August 10 and August 17, reaching an average of positive 0.08%. This figure translates to 1.7% per week, indicating an increase in leveraged long activity. After subsiding for a few days, the indicator initiated another hike, charging 0.10% every 8 hours from longs.
The current 2.1% equivalent weekly fees indicate stronger leverage among retail investors, which suggests optimism. Of course, there is no way to know if the recent move will be enough to spark a sustained improvement in prices, but traders appear to think the $100 target is more approachable than ever. (Cointelegraph)