SEI up 11% after ‘Giga Upgrade’ – Can $10M leverage keep rally alive?

Sei [SEI] recently rolled out a network upgrade that fully enables compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, a move the market has largely interpreted as bullish.

At the time of writing, SEI has gained 11%, with further upside still in play. However, much of the current momentum stems from derivatives activity rather than organic spot demand.

Derivatives activity drives price action

SEI’s latest rally has been closely tied to increased positioning in the perpetual futures market, where traders appear to be leaning into the upgrade narrative with long exposure.

At the time of writing, Open Interest (OI) rose sharply over the past day, with more than $10 million in leveraged positions added. A significant share of this capital tilts toward long positions, as reflected in a positive funding rate during the same period.

Other derivatives’ indicators reinforce this trend. Liquidation data showed that short traders bore the brunt of market pressure over the past 24 hours, with approximately $72,000 in positions wiped out, while long-side liquidations remained comparatively limited.

In derivatives markets, this pattern often reflects upward price movement, as the forced closure of short positions tends to push prices higher.

Upgrade strengthens Sei’s fundamentals

The rally also draws support from underlying network developments. Sei Network v0.64, referred to as the Giga Upgrade, introduces full EVM compatibility, allowing developers to deploy and run Ethereum-based applications directly on Sei.

This development improves interoperability with the Ethereum ecosystem, enabling more seamless interaction between applications across both networks.

At the same time, the upgrade signals a structural shift away from the Cosmos ecosystem. According to the release notes, the update includes:

Alongside this transition, Sei reported performance improvements, including a roughly 20% enhancement in block times and increased overall network throughput.

Market structure points to downside risk

Despite the bullish momentum, market structure suggests caution.

Liquidation heatmaps indicate that a concentration of clusters sits below the current price level. These clusters represent zones with dense unfilled orders and often act as magnets for price movement.

With a heavier concentration of liquidity positioned beneath the current range, the probability of a short-term pullback increases.

Still, these zones do not always dictate trend direction. If buying pressure continues to build, SEI could maintain its upward trajectory and extend gains in the near term.

Final Summary

• SEI recorded roughly $10 million in capital inflows in the perpetual futures market as the Giga Upgrade went live.
• Liquidation clusters, however, still point to a potential downswing based on current capital positioning.