Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Edges Down 0.3% After $80,000 Dip

Bitcoin (BTC) notional futures open interest fell only 0.3% to $36.4 billion in an Oct. 19 reading, leaving substantial exposure in the market after a dip below $80,000.

The prior week’s reading was $36.5 billion. Open interest measures the value of outstanding futures contracts, not the cash traders posted as collateral. Its small decline does not establish how many positions closed.

Payments by holders of long futures positions increased from $1.1 million to $1.6 million over the same period. That rise came while the notional value of open contracts changed little.

On tracked spot exchanges, seller-initiated trades exceeded buyer-initiated trades by $83.6 million, compared with $67 million a week earlier. The measure identifies which side initiated a transaction; every completed trade still has both a buyer and a seller. The wider imbalance indicates stronger selling pressure on those exchanges.

Bitcoin options open interest rose from $37.4 billion to $38.6 billion. A measure of demand for protection against a price decline also increased, reaching 8.6% from 5.2%.

An Oct. 21 liquidation model placed its two largest estimated clusters near $85,000 and $87,000, above the market. Another cluster appeared near $79,600. These levels estimate where leveraged positions could be forced closed, but they can shift as traders reposition. The model does not establish how many contracts a move below $80,000 would liquidate.

On Binance, bids near $80,000 had been replenished by Oct. 20 following the Oct. 15 dip below that level. U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded net inflows Oct. 19, although fund trading volume remained subdued.

The Federal Reserve’s next rate decision is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC) on Oct. 28, at the end of its Oct. 27-28 meeting.