Bitcoin Rises to $86,500 as Open Interest Adds 27,000 BTC

Bitcoin (BTC) climbed from about $83,500 to $86,500 as open interest in futures and perpetual contracts rose by roughly 27,000 BTC, indicating more positions were outstanding without showing whether traders expected prices to rise or fall.

Open interest reached approximately 653,000 BTC on Oct. 2, up from about 626,000 BTC on Sept. 30. The increase was valued at roughly $2.3 billion, or 4.3%.

Open interest counts contracts that remain open. Each contract has both a buyer and a seller, so a higher total does not by itself reveal whether the market is net bullish or bearish.

Funding payments provide a separate measure of positioning in perpetual futures, which do not have an expiration date. When funding is positive, traders holding long positions pay those holding short positions. Higher positive rates can make bullish exposure more expensive to maintain.

The increase followed an open-interest reading of about 626,000 BTC on Sept. 30. Bitcoin’s price also rose over the period.

The U.S. September employment report was scheduled for release Oct. 2 at 8:30 a.m. ET (12:30 UTC). The timing offers market context but does not establish that the report schedule drove the changes in price or open interest.