Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Falls 0.3% as Spot Selling Deepens

Bitcoin futures open interest edged lower in the week ended Oct. 18 as spot selling strengthened, while outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds narrowed. The figures show mixed market conditions, with no weekly increase in outstanding futures positions.

Open interest fell 0.3% to $36.4 billion from $36.5 billion seven days earlier. Long-side funding payments rose to $1.6 million from $1.1 million, a 49.4% increase. The payment figure is not a funding rate.

Spot cumulative volume delta was negative $83.6 million, compared with negative $67 million a week earlier. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF net outflows narrowed to $230 million from $674.9 million, while trading volume declined to $10.1 billion from $10.4 billion.

Bitcoin was $81,763, down 1.33% over 24 hours, as of 12:09 a.m. ET (04:09 UTC) Friday, Oct. 23.

Open interest counts outstanding contracts, with a long and a short side to each contract. It measures market exposure but does not show whether traders are positioned for prices to rise or fall. A guide to how open interest tracks outstanding contracts explains the measure.

Leveraged futures positions can be forcibly closed if an account’s margin falls below its maintenance requirement. The weekly figures show exposure to price moves in either direction, but do not establish that widespread liquidations are imminent.