Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Rises 4.3% During Price Decline

Bitcoin (BTC) futures open interest rose as the price fell to $79,821, keeping liquidation risk in focus even as withdrawals from U.S. spot exchange-traded funds eased.

Across 22 exchanges, outstanding Bitcoin futures increased from 619,645 BTC on Oct. 12 to 646,442 BTC on Oct. 15, a 4.3% gain. Bitcoin reached $79,821 on Oct. 15. Open interest counts active contracts, but its total does not show whether traders primarily hold long or short positions.

Short exposure grew during the decline. As Bitcoin recovered toward $83,000, leveraged longs returned and funding rates turned positive. Those changes in positioning matter because a falling price can force leveraged long positions to close.

Crypto futures liquidations across the market reached $1.18 billion in the 24 hours through Oct. 8, including $1.05 billion in long positions. A separate 24-hour window leading to Oct. 15 saw $948 million in liquidations. Both totals cover crypto futures broadly, rather than Bitcoin alone.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $228.4 million in net outflows across Oct. 12–16. That was 66.4% less than the $678.9 million withdrawn during Oct. 5–9, the previous week's heavier withdrawals. Inflows on two days did not outweigh outflows on the other three.

Bitcoin traded below $81,300 on each day from Oct. 15 through Oct. 18, yet closed above that price every day. Its daily lows were $79,821, $80,817, $80,820 and $80,700, respectively. The intraday moves therefore did not produce a daily close below $81,300.

An estimated 646,000 BTC had cost bases between $80,353 and $82,224 as of Oct. 18, up 366,000 BTC from Oct. 11. That estimate places more supply in the price range near the recent lows; it does not establish when individual purchases occurred.

A brief move under $79,821 alone would not confirm another forced unwind. A daily close below that level, together with renewed long liquidations and elevated open interest, would strengthen the case for one.