Bitcoin bears pay to bet on further declines as futures positions near yearly lows
Overall demand for leveraged exposure remains weak, marked by sliding futures open interest. The capital that's still in the market appears skewed toward bearish positions.
Capital is fleeing the bitcoin BTC$82,742.29 futures market, and the traders still in are willing to pay to stay short.
Open interest, or the number of active futures bets, stood at 652,000 BTC as of this writing, one of its lowest levels this year. The tally peaked at 800,000 early this year, according to data source Coinglass.
The slide reflects a capital exodus, characterized by traders staying away from leveraged plays despite the 40% rise in bitcoin’s price in the third quarter.
However, bitcoin is still more than $20,000 above its summer cycle low and is still the best performing asset of the third quarter.