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The washout reduced forced-selling risk, but spot volume and ETF creations still need to carry the next move.
The post XRP cleaned out leverage, now ETF demand has to prove itself appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin’s price action in June has been marked by heavy selling pressure, with the leading cryptocurrency suffering one of its sharpest declines of the year. In the first five days of the month, Bitcoin has triggered more than $1.28 billion in long liquidations as prices plunged toward the critical $60,000 region. According to the renowned analyst, Bitcoin’s struggles are part of a broader market-wide risk-off move in the US financial markets. In an X post on June 6, Adler Jr. explained that the Bitcoin market turmoil began following the release of stronger-than-expected US labor market data. The US economy reportedly added 172,000 jobs in May, significantly above forecasts of 88,000. Generally, rising employment is viewed as a positive economic signal. However, with inflationary pressures remaining elevated and energy prices still relatively high, investors interpreted the report differently. According to Adler Jr., the stronger labor market reinforced expectations that the US Federal Reserve is likely to adopt a restrictive monetary policy. Therefore, expectations for future rate hikes rose from 40% to 57%. The impact was felt across multiple asset classes. In the trading session on June 5, approximately $2.5 trillion was reportedly erased from major financial markets, including the S&P 500 ($1.14 trillion), Nasdaq ($1.11 trillion), gold ($1 trillion), silver ($280 billion), and Bitcoin ($80 billion). Related Reading: Bitcoin Testing A Critical Support After Sharp Market-Wide Selloff Bitcoin Remains In Danger Of Excessive Leverage Despite Decline Beyond macroeconomic factors, Adler Jr. also highlighted the excessive leverage in the Bitcoin market. Notably, funding rates have remained positive throughout the decline, indicating that traders continued paying premiums to maintain long positions even as prices moved lower. Such conditions often signal excessive bullish positioning but pose a serious risk of forced liquidations if the decline persists.  At the same time, Bitcoin open interest remained elevated, as the 30-day open interest change peaked at 14.1% on June 3, then eased slightly to 8.4% by June 6. The market expert explains that such movement indicates that leverage had accumulated rapidly during the decline before being forced out. In other layers of the market, US Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded approximately $1.40 billion in weekly net outflows, removing an important source of demand to become part of the selling pressure. Meanwhile, Adler Jr. highlights an increase in exchange inflows as Bitcoin’s seven-day exchange netflow average climbed to 10,200 BTC on June 2, then retraced to around 6,200 BTC. Historically, rising exchange balances are often associated with increased sell-side activity. Related Reading: Ethereum Breakdown Warning: This Key Level Could Trigger More Downtrend Bitcoin Outlook Hinges On Vital $60,000 Support At press time, Bitcoin trades at $61,593, reflecting a 1.95% gain in the past day. According to Adler Jr., the key market level is $60,000, representing the current cycle low. The market analyst states it’s important that several market segments, i.e., ETF outflows, exchange inflows, and the futures market cool down before a price break occurs below $60,000, to avoid another cascading effect. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from Tradingview

Bitcoin’s futures market is flashing a warning that analysts say could mean more pain ahead. Open interest climbed to roughly 288,000 BTC even as prices fell, with funding rates holding positive at 0.083% — a sign that bullish bets remain in place despite the selloff, leaving the market exposed to another wave of forced liquidations. Related Reading: XRP Dips In The Short Run, But A Bigger Setup May Be Forming: Analyst Bitcoin Liquidations Hit Hardest Since February About $672 million in Bitcoin positions were wiped out in 24 hours ending June 2, the largest single-day wipeout since February 5. That came as Bitcoin slipped below $67,000, dragging short-term holders — those who bought recently — into the red at a pace not seen since early in the year. On Binance alone, short-term holder losses hit -16,400 BTC on June 2. Across all exchanges, that figure reached -38,700 BTC, down slightly from -41,300 BTC recorded on May 28. Data shows these are buyers from recent months who are now exiting positions at a loss. Retail And Mid-Sized Investors Head For The Exits Larger participants are also moving coins. Reports from CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha show mid-sized investors sent roughly 8,400 BTC to Binance on June 2 alone — the most since February 6. On the retail side, Binance’s 30-day inflow total reached $9.2 billion by June 1, the highest reading since November 20, 2025. Analyst MorenoDV, who tracked the retail flow data, said exchange inflows don’t automatically mean selling is coming, but they tend to show up before stretches of sharper volatility. If buy-side demand absorbs the inflows, the spike could turn into a local exhaustion point — but if it doesn’t, it may mark the start of broader distribution from weaker hands, MorenoDV said. This is called an expanding triangle. Expanding triangles are very common in Bitcoin. They are also typically reliable. The target for expanding triangles is the height projected from the breakout. A move back above 75,000 would change my analysis $BTC pic.twitter.com/WOOU5xTJ7g — The Factor Report (@PeterLBrandt) June 2, 2026 $60K Zone Draws All Eyes From a technical standpoint, Bitcoin has broken below two previously held support levels at $74,800 and $70,400. The eight-hour RSI fell to 30.4 on June 2, its lowest since February 6, pointing to oversold conditions and sustained downward pressure. Related Reading: XRP Is The Clear Winner For Transactions, According To Peter Brandt Charts point to a liquidity cluster between $62,300 and $65,600, which overlaps with a demand zone stretching toward $60,000. Veteran trader Peter Brandt identified a broader concern, noting that Bitcoin appears to be forming an expanding triangle pattern on the daily chart. Featured image from MetaAI, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin’s derivatives market has yet to fully heal from a violent shakeout last October, when roughly 71,000 BTC worth around $11 billion was wiped from open interest across major exchanges. Total open interest has not recovered to pre-event levels, leaving a gap of more than 24,000 BTC that signals many traders are still sitting on the sidelines. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Prolonged Downtrend Through 2027, Analyst Warns Derivatives Damage Still Visible That cautious positioning sits at the center of growing concern about where Bitcoin heads next. The world’s largest cryptocurrency closed May at $73,560, down 3.40% for the month, and at least two closely watched analysts say the slide may not be over. Prominent on-chain analyst PlanB framed the debate plainly. He said the market is roughly split on whether the February low near $60,000 marked the bottom of this cycle or whether a steeper drop is still ahead, and based on his reading of the data, he leans toward more downside. Bitcoin closed May at $73,568 Market is 50/50 on if Febryary $60k was the bottom, or the bear will continue. IMO data is telling us that we have not seen bottom formation yet, and that there is a >50% probablility that we go lower (below 200wma $61k or realized price $53k). pic.twitter.com/4uxdxH5oGA — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) June 1, 2026 PlanB’s view rests on a chart tracking how much of the total Bitcoin supply is currently sitting in profit. In past bear market cycles, major bottoms typically formed when only a small share of holders were in the green and fear was widespread. Right now, data shows a higher proportion of holders still in profit compared to those historical trough periods, which PlanB says means the market has not yet hit the kind of full panic, or capitulation, that usually marks a true bottom. Two Levels Now In Focus He puts the odds of prices moving lower above 50%, with two long-term indicators as potential landing zones. The 200-week moving average sits near $61,000 and has held as strong support in previous downturns. The realized price, which reflects the average cost basis across the entire Bitcoin supply, is near $53,000. Trader Ted Pillow flagged a nearer-term threshold. He said a daily close below $70,000 could trigger a fresh wave of selling, noting that the level has absorbed repeated pressure in recent weeks and that losing it would likely shake short-term trader confidence. Related Reading: Could XRP Hit $10 This Bull Run? World’s Highest IQ Holder Thinks So What Needs To Happen For A Bottom The picture that emerges from both analysts is one of a market waiting for a cleaner flush before conditions line up for a sustained recovery. Open interest on the derivatives side remains depressed, sentiment is fragile, and the percentage of holders in profit has not fallen to the lows that have historically coincided with cycle bottoms. PlanB said prices could fall below $61,000, with the 200-week moving average offering the first major test and the realized price near $53,000 representing a deeper level of potential support. Bitcoin would need to move toward either of those levels for the current setup to more closely resemble the bottoming patterns seen in prior cycles. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

The Shiba Inu (SHIB) price has remained under strong pressure this year as weak demand and fading market momentum continue to weigh on the meme coin. Beyond the price decline, new data now show that Shiba Inu’s Open Interest (OI) has crashed by more than 30%, while its burn rate has also slowed significantly. The decline in these key metrics points to weakening investor interest, lower trading activity, and reduced network engagement. Combined with Shiba Inu’s ongoing price struggles, these growing bearish signals have raised concerns about whether Shiba Inu is losing the strength that once made it the second-largest meme coin in the crypto market.  Shiba Inu Open Interest Crashes As Price Plummets On May 27, data from Coinglass revealed that Shiba Inu’s Open Interest had dropped by 6% to $49.4 million, signaling weakness in futures activity and a decline in investor confidence in the meme coin. During the same period, Shiba Inu’s futures flow plunged by a staggering 190%, with outflows reaching $5.6 million, far exceeding the previous inflows of around $4.74 million.  Related Reading: Shiba Inu Could Stage A Return As 20% Move Puts It Ahead Of Bitcoin And XRP In This Metric Notably, this sharp decline pushed the net difference to $865,790 in total closed Shiba Inu contracts within 24 hours. The heavy outflow also wiped out roughly 156.56 billion SHIB tokens from the futures market, underscoring the ongoing decline in speculative trading activity.  Fast forward to today, Shiba Inu’s Open Interest has dropped an additional 5.6% to around $46.44 million. This suggests that traders are still closing positions at a rapid pace as bearish sentiment continues to dominate the market. The continued decline in leverage activity also reflects weakening sentiment among short-term investors, with many appearing unwilling to place strong bullish bets on SHIB’s near-term recovery.  This bearish shift comes as the meme coin’s price experiences prolonged volatility and market swings. According to CoinMarketCap’s data, Shiba Inu has been on a steady decline throughout this month. Its price has fallen by over 14% in the last 30 days and by more than 63% year-to-date. At the time of writing, the meme coin remains in the red, with its recent price correction driven by increased selling pressure and a drop in Bitcoin’s price. Other factors contributing to SHIB’s low price are the broader weakness in the meme coin market, which has also affected coins like Dogecoin (DOGE).   SHIB Burn Rate Dwindles To Surprising Lows Another metric that has surprisingly taken a hit is Shiba Inu’s burn rate. According to the meme coin’s burn tracker, Shibburn, just $2 worth of SHIB tokens were burned on May 26, highlighting a sharp slowdown in activity and adding more pressure to the already bearish market.  Related Reading: Recent Developments Show Why The Shiba Inu Price Keeps Crashing Notably, the Shiba Inu ecosystem is widely known for conducting large-scale token burns, with many community members believing that a continued decline in supply could create sufficient scarcity to support a future price explosion. However, recent on-chain reports now show that this usually active burn mechanism has taken a pause. Shibburn also revealed that only about $11 worth of tokens were burned over the last 24 hours, representing just over 2.05 million SHIB. In the past week, less than $100 worth of tokens was removed from circulation, indicating weakening interest in the meme coin and a clear lack of interest in helping reduce SHIB’s supply. Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com

The previous Bitcoin market top may not have been marked by a dramatic crash or obvious sell signal, but by a highly coordinated, sophisticated wave of whale distribution. While most participants were driven by optimism and bullish conviction, large holders were quietly offloading positions in a way that blended seamlessly into normal market activity. How Whale Distributed Bitcoin Without Triggering Warning Signals The Bitcoin market top last year was less obvious than in past cycles, unfolding through a quiet, highly coordinated wave of whale distribution. ForeDex on X revealed that at a time when BTC participants were filled with optimism and conviction, a whale moved roughly 30,000 BTC to exchanges over 10 days via Galaxy Digital. Meanwhile, most market participants failed to recognize the significance of these flows. Related Reading: Bitcoin Supply Shock: 100,000 BTC Vanish From Exchanges In Under 90 Days ForeDex explained that BTC was split into smaller amounts and distributed across multiple exchanges, unlike previous cycles. In earlier market tops, large flows often ranging from several thousand to 10,000 BTC were sent directly to platforms such as Coinbase, Binance, or Gemini in a single transaction, making these movements relatively easy to detect. However, after the ETF approval, market structure and trading behavior became more sophisticated. As selling pressure was distributed across different exchanges, the historical exchange-specific sell premium became less reliable. Even the well-known Coinbase-Binance Gap data no longer shows these traces as clearly as it used to. Ultimately, BTC market dynamics are evolving, and new patterns are constantly emerging. Even if some participants had identified unusual flows, the strong optimism and conviction at the peak would likely have led many to dismiss them. Bitcoin Could Face Another Liquidity Sweep To The Downside Bitcoin is showing signs of weakening market structure, with price forming lower highs following the rejection at $82,000. Crypto analyst Kaz has noted that one of the biggest warning signs is the sharp rise in Open Interest (OI) that is aggressively occurring, and both perpetual and spot Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) are trending downward, indicating bullish traders are already starting to get squeezed out of the market. Related Reading: 14,600 Bitcoin Sold in Profit in One Day: Here Is How BTC’s Own Structure Broke It Below $80K At the same time, bears appear to be actively building short positions, a continuous liquidation that is adding fuel to the decline. Kaz argues that additional long positions could be flushed out, as perpetual and spot CVDs are currently declining, and there is still long liquidation at the downside. Currently, BTC is retesting the $80,000 level with the highest OI bearish positioning seen at this level so far. In the bullish case, if price holds above the $80,000 zone and CVD starts rising, the market could trigger a short squeeze back toward the $82,000 resistance. In the bearish scenario, a loss of the $80,000 level, combined with current weak internals, could lead to a liquidity sweep of the lows, with price potentially moving toward testing the point of weak order (pwO). Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

XRP’s futures open interest has climbed 23% so far in May, a sign that traders are betting bigger on the token even as its price trades roughly 6% below a recent high of $1.50. At $1.46 at the time of writing, XRP is down just nearly a percent in the last 24 hours — yet the money flowing into XRP investment products tells a different story. Related Reading: Strategy Boosts Bitcoin Position With Fresh $206M STRC Injection Institutional Appetite Keeps Growing Spot XRP exchange-traded funds recorded close to $26 million in inflows on Monday alone, the largest single-day figure since January 5. That pushed cumulative net inflows into a new all-time high of $1.35 billion, with total assets under management across spot XRP ETFs now sitting at $1.18 billion. The streak covers five straight days of net inflows. Broader XRP exchange-traded products — a category that includes ETFs and similar investment vehicles — pulled in nearly $40 million during the week ending May 8, according to data from CoinShares. Year-to-date net inflows for that group now stand at $191 million, bringing total AUM to over $2.5 billion. CoinShares head of research James Butterfill described the pace as a “notable acceleration,” attributing part of the momentum to developments around the US CLARITY Act, including a compromise proposal on stablecoin yields released on May 1. Charts Point Toward A Possible Breakout On-chain data is also shifting. XRP’s 90-day spot taker cumulative volume delta has flipped positive, a signal that buying pressure in the spot market is picking up. Social media sentiment around XRP recently hit a two-year high, adding another layer to the bullish picture forming around the token. Several analysts say the price chart supports further gains. One points to XRP bouncing off a multi-month ascending support line, setting up what could be a move toward $1.80. A golden cross on the weekly MACD — a widely watched technical indicator — has been cited as reinforcing that outlook. A more aggressive forecast puts XRP on a path toward $10, drawing comparisons to the token’s Q4 2024 rally after it broke out of a prolonged accumulation range between $1 and $1.30. Price And Open Interest Signal Momentum XRP is up 2.3% in the last week. Futures open interest rising alongside price is generally read as fresh money entering the market rather than short covering — a distinction traders watch closely when assessing whether a move has staying power. Related Reading: Shiba Inu Bullish Momentum Explodes As Buying Pressure Intensifies Data shows XRP ETFs logged their biggest daily inflow in more than four months this week. Whether institutional demand at this scale translates into a sustained price recovery remains to be seen, but the numbers behind the current move are drawing serious attention. Featured image from TopMicrobialStock/Shutterstock.com, chart from TradingView

Trader sentiment in Shiba Inu derivatives market has done a complete 180 over the past week. Net positions — which sat at around -200 million just days ago, reflecting a market tilted toward short bets — have swung to more than +400 million in net longs as of May 11. That kind of shift in a short window is not common. Related Reading: Nearly 80% Of Bitcoin Supply Hasn’t Moved As Long-Term Holders Tighten Grip From Short To Long: A Full Reversal The turnaround began around May 6, when net positions started climbing out of negative territory. By May 9, the indicator had crossed into positive ground, and it kept climbing. According to market watcher CW, buying pressure has grown sharply and is now dominating the market. “The upward momentum of $SHIB is increasing explosively,” he said. The upward momentum of $SHIB is increasing explosively. Upward pressure is very strong. pic.twitter.com/krXs9zhcM7 — CW (@CW8900) May 10, 2026 That momentum shows up clearly on the price chart. SHIB has been rising steadily from the $0.00000615 range, forming a pattern of higher lows and higher highs since May 10 — a sign that buyers have held control without the market getting sloppy or erratic. The price reached above $0.00000660 by May 11, a gain of roughly 6.50% over the past week. Open Interest Climbs Past 6 Billion The derivatives market is also pulling in fresh participants. Open Interest — which tracks the total value of outstanding contracts — rose from just above 5 billion on May 5 to over 6 billion at the time of reporting. That increase suggests traders are opening new positions rather than simply closing old ones. When prices rise alongside growing Open Interest, it typically points to sustained demand rather than a technical bounce driven by short sellers getting squeezed out. Reports indicate that this combination is what analysts often look for when assessing whether a rally has legs. Leverage Cuts Both Ways Still, the same buildup that has driven prices higher carries risk. With Open Interest elevated and long positions stacked up, a slowdown in price movement could set off a chain of forced liquidations. If SHIB struggles to push higher while leverage stays elevated, a quick drop becomes more likely — even if the broader direction has not changed. Related Reading: XRP Market Now Controlled By Whales? Dominance Reaches 91% On Binance For the upside to continue, reports say SHIB needs to hold above the $0.00000665 to $0.00000670 range. That zone now acts as a key level. If buyers defend it, the next leg higher remains on the table. If they don’t, the market may correct sharply before finding its footing again. Featured image from Anne Arundel County Government, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin is seeing an explosive rise in Open Interest, with derivatives activity now surpassing peak session levels recorded during the 2025 all-time high. This explosive growth reflects rising trader participation and increased leverage that is often seen during periods of heightened anticipation for major price moves. As positions rise across futures and perpetual markets, the spike in open interest points to a market gearing up for volatility. Can Bitcoin Sustain Momentum With Leverage Rising This Fast? Bitcoin is experiencing its strongest Open Interest expansion of 2026, with derivatives actively now surpassing even 2025’s all-time highs. A verified CryptoQuant author, known as Darkfost on X, has noted that the BTC market remains heavily driven by futures. Data shows that BTC’s recent bullish momentum has been driven largely by a steady return of investors to the derivatives markets. Related Reading: Bitcoin Supply Shock: 100,000 BTC Vanish From Exchanges In Under 90 Days Despite funding rates remaining broadly negative for weeks, open interest has recorded its strongest increase since the beginning of 2026. What makes the move particularly notable is that the current increase in open interest is already larger than the expansion seen during BTC’s previous ATH formation. Major platforms like Binance continue to dominate the majority of capital in the segment, reportedly accounting for approximately 34% of total market share, with a monthly average surging to around $2.5 billion on May 5. Meanwhile, a similar trend is also visible across other exchanges, such as Gate.io, which has a record of $1.75 billion, and Bybit, with a record of $1.15 billion. According to Darkfost, comparing the more defensive market conditions seen earlier in the year, the latest data shows optimism is gradually returning to the market, encouraging traders to increase their risk exposure. The growing dependence on leverage also introduces fragility into the market structure. Thus, leveraged positions are rarely built to last longer, and their liquidation could significantly amplify volatility and the risks associated with the market. Why Holding Above Current Levels Is Critical For Bitcoin Bulls The Bitcoin price is currently in a critical retest phase after successfully breaking above the previous highs earlier this week. A crypto trader known as Max Trades on X noted that this level is acting as a key support zone, and holding above it is essential for buyers to sustain momentum and push the broader uptrend price higher. Related Reading: Bitcoin Bulls Need One More Signal To Confirm Market Bottom – Details As long as BTC maintains support above the reclaimed range, the likelihood of a liquidity sweep toward the $82,800 highs will continue to increase. However, a breakdown back below the retest zone would weaken the bullish structure and likely shift market focus toward the next major liquidity area between the $75,000 and $76,000 zone. This region remains one of the most significant liquidity downside targets if support fails. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

Bitcoin is approaching a critical juncture as market data reveals a massive long liquidation imbalance, with an estimated $15 billion in leveraged positions sitting below the current price. This concentration of downside liquidity creates a high-risk environment where even a modest drop could trigger cascading liquidations. How Bitcoin’s Liquidity Structure Suggests Volatility Ahead Bitcoin is developing one of the most extreme liquidation imbalances, as long liquidations currently outweigh short liquidations. A crypto trader known as Max Trades on X highlighted that the current liquidation data showed a massive concentration of long positions sitting below the market, with an estimated $15 billion in long liquidations. Related Reading: Bitcoin At $82K, But Metrics Don’t Smile: Network Activity Down, Spot Demand Negative—What’s Next? Meanwhile, only around $3 billion in short liquidations remains above current price levels. This creates a striking 5:1 imbalance, suggesting the market is heavily skewed toward downside liquidity. Despite this setup, BTC has continued grinding higher, with upward momentum largely driven by new short positions entering the market. However, if shorts stop providing fuel for the move and market makers turn their focus toward the dense liquidity below the price, the market may become vulnerable to a sharp liquidation cascade. Why Bitcoin’s Current Rally May Be Vulnerable To A Pullback Bitcoin continues to show strength, but several internal market signals suggest the current rally may be losing momentum in the short term. Analyst Kaz has stated that BTC is currently trading within a relatively tight range around the $81,500 level, while trading volume has started to fade. Related Reading: Here’s What Triggered The Bitcoin Price Decline Before The Recent Bounce At the same time, Open Interest (OI) remains stable and flat, indicating that large new leveraged positions are not entering the market. The perpetual futures CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta) is still climbing, showing that buyers remain active, but the pace of that momentum has slowed noticeably. Spot CVD is also trending higher, suggesting genuine spot demand is still supporting the move, but recent candles indicate that the strength has started to weaken. Meanwhile, shorts continue to get liquidated periodically, helping sustain the BTC upward grind, while the squeeze is becoming smaller. Despite these warning signs, the broader internals still favor the bulls for now. When price grinds higher on fading volume, the CVDs show slow momentum, and open interest is flat. Kaz noted that the move is weakening and is due for a pullback, and making a decision based on this move is not optimal. The focus now shifts to monitoring changes in open interest and spot CVD for clearer direction. With midweek volatility (Wednesday) in play, BTC can still turn bearish. If BTC price pushes higher before the New York Open (NYO), without meaningful support from open interest and spot demand, a dump during the NYO is likely. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com

More than $4 billion in long positions now sit within striking distance of liquidation near $77,000 — a figure that underscores just how much is riding on Bitcoin holding its current footing above $80,000. Related Reading: David Schwartz Says Selling XRP Doesn’t Make Him The Villain Bears Keep Rebuilding, Keep Getting Burned Data tracked by Bitcoin researcher Axel Adler Jr. shows that close to $8 billion in short positions have been forcibly closed since early February, with the largest single-day spike hitting $737 million on Feb. 13. The liquidations did not come all at once. They arrived in three separate waves stretching from February through April, each one triggered as bearish traders rebuilt positions at higher price levels — only to get caught again as the price held firm. Daily liquidation volumes had dropped to a range of $2 to $28 million before spiking back to $175 million on May 4. That jump came during an otherwise quiet week, pointing to fresh short exposure being built near $80,000. Reports say the recurring pattern shows traders consistently betting against the price — and consistently being forced out. Source: Axel Adler Jr. Adler’s trend pulse model adds context. Bitcoin moved out of bear mode and into neutral territory in early April. Short-term momentum has turned positive, though a full bullish signal would require the 30-day simple moving average to cross above the 200-day. According to the data, every major liquidation wave so far has occurred while the trend sat in this neutral zone — a transition phase that has repeatedly caught short sellers off guard. Rising Open Interest Adds To The Pressure Bitcoin’s open interest across all exchanges climbed 6% to nearly $30 billion as of early May, its highest reading since Jan. 31. That increase means the market is more sensitive to sudden price moves — up or down. Funding rates remain near -0.0045, a sign that short-side pressure is still active while long positions are not yet crowded. Market analyst Coin Niel reported net exchange outflows of 837 BTC on May 5, following a much larger outflow of 6,590 BTC the previous Monday. Sustained outflows typically reflect accumulation, as coins move off exchanges and into private wallets, reducing available supply for immediate sale. Related Reading: Trump-Linked WLFI Files Major Defamation Lawsuit Against Billionaire Justin Sun Bitcoin broke above a descending trendline that had capped price gains throughout April. The 100-day exponential moving average now sits just below the current price, acting as a dynamic floor. The short-term holder cost basis aligns near $81,500, a level that keeps recent buyers in profit and may further reduce selling pressure in the near term. Supply Zone Ahead, With A Big Drop Below The $86,000 to $90,000 range represents a zone of prior selling activity — a cluster where sellers stepped in during the last recovery and pushed the price back down. That zone is the next major test for any continued rally. Featured image from Vecteezy, chart from TradingView

Fewer derivative traders are placing new bets on Bitcoin right now. Open interest has barely moved — up just 1.50% to $55 billion — and more futures positions closed than opened in the past 24 hours. Volume dropped 21% to $30 billion. The market is waiting. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Path To $100K May Happen Before Anyone Understands Why: Analyst Sellers Have Had The Upper Hand For Over A Year The waiting may be approaching an end, according to on-chain data firm CryptoQuant. Analyst Moreno published findings showing Bitcoin is nearing a test of two key metrics that have defined its market structure since early 2024. How it responds to that test, reports indicate, could determine the direction of the next significant move. At the center of the analysis is the Short-Term Holder MVRV — a metric that measures whether recent buyers are sitting on gains or losses. Bitcoin Is Close to Flipping the Market Structure “A sustained reclaim of the Realized Price, paired with the MVRV stabilizing and trending above 1.0, would signal a structural regime change.” – By @MorenoDV_ pic.twitter.com/AsxsyFEyzi — CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) May 1, 2026 Since early 2024, it has printed a sequence of lower highs even as Bitcoin’s price climbed to new records. When BTC hit roughly $72,000 in March 2024, the MVRV peaked above 1.4. By November 2024, Bitcoin pushed toward $106,000, but the metric failed to reach its previous high. The pattern repeated in July 2025, when Bitcoin hit around $120,000 — yet the MVRV continued lower, tracing out a clear descending trendline. That trendline has acted as a ceiling on every bounce since. The MVRV is now approaching that same ceiling again. Buyers Need To Reclaim A Key Cost Level At the same time, Bitcoin is closing in on the Short-Term Holder Realized Price — the average price at which recent buyers acquired their coins. This level matters because it splits the short-term holder base between profit and loss. When Bitcoin trades below it, recent buyers are underwater and more likely to sell into any rally. When it trades above, selling pressure eases. According to CryptoQuant’s analysis, a confirmed move above the Realized Price — paired with the MVRV holding above 1.0 — would mark a meaningful change in structure. It would signal that recent buyers are no longer a consistent drag on price, giving any upward move a stronger foundation. Failure to hold above that level, on the other hand, would leave the existing structure intact. Related Reading: US CLARITY Act Moves Closer To Law After Surprise Stablecoin Yield Update US Spot Buyers Are Still Sitting On The Sidelines Other data points to continued caution. The Coinbase Premium Index — which tracks the price difference between Coinbase and other exchanges, often used as a gauge of US institutional demand — sits at -0.018%. Negative readings suggest US spot buyers are not driving purchases. Bitcoin has recovered from earlier lows to briefly touch $79,200, but has since pulled back to around $78,300. Featured image from MetaAI, chart from TradingView

A crypto analyst has placed a seven-figure bet against Dogecoin, warning that the market looks dangerously overextended. CryptoQuant’s JA Maartun opened a short position of 1 million DOGE, citing a sharp and rapid buildup of leveraged contracts that he described as a risky setup. Related Reading: Bitcoin Bull Run Brewing: ATH In Sight By Late 2026: Analyst The Numbers Behind The Warning DOGE futures open interest climbed 33% in just five days, jumping from roughly 505 million to approximately 683 million DOGE contracts. The surge was steady, beginning around April 23 and peaking close to 685 million before settling slightly. What made the move stand out wasn’t just the size — it was the fact that price barely moved during the same period. DOGE traded in a narrow band between $0.094 and $0.101 while the contract volume swelled. That kind of divergence typically signals traders piling into positions on borrowed exposure rather than actual buying in the spot market. Maartun’s short targets a price of around $0.09069, which would represent roughly a 10% drop from where DOGE was trading at the time of his post. DOGE: Open Interest is up +33% in the last 5 days. ???? pic.twitter.com/zVvia03RGh — Maartunn (@JA_Maartun) April 28, 2026 A Crowded Market With Nowhere To Hide When open interest rises sharply without a matching move in price, it creates tension. Both sides of the trade — long and short — become vulnerable to a sudden unwind. If buyers can’t push DOGE higher, overleveraged long positions may be forced to close, sending the price down fast. If sellers miscalculate, a short squeeze can push it sharply upward instead. Either way, the setup tends to produce volatility. Maartun acknowledged the risk openly, calling his own trade a “risky” one before placing it anyway. That kind of candor is uncommon in crypto commentary, where analysts often present calls with more confidence than the data supports. Bitcoin is currently futures-driven. Open interest is rising, but on-chain apparent demand remains net negative despite ETF inflows and Saylor buys. Historically, bear markets end when both spot and futures demand recover. pic.twitter.com/HcCjBQTniL — Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) April 27, 2026 Bitcoin’s Weakness Adds Pressure The situation for DOGE doesn’t exist in isolation. Reports indicate that CryptoQuant’s CEO Ki Young Ju flagged a similar pattern in Bitcoin earlier, noting that BTC’s push toward $79,000 had been driven by futures activity rather than real demand. Related Reading: Crypto Markets Rattle As Bitcoin Sinks Under $77K Following Oil Spike On-chain data showed spot buying was still negative even as institutions and ETF inflows kept headlines bullish. Bitcoin subsequently pulled back toward $75,000 — and altcoins like DOGE felt the pressure. With Bitcoin retreating and DOGE futures open interest at elevated levels, the path of least resistance may be downward. A broader market dip would likely accelerate any unwind of crowded DOGE positions, given how quickly sentiment can shift in lower-cap assets. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

New reports reveal that XRP’s Open Interest (OI) Z-Score has declined to extremely low levels, indicating reduced speculation and a possible leverage reset. According to analysts, the last time XRP’s OI Z-Score reached this level, it triggered an explosive 600% rally to new highs in 2024, ending the cryptocurrency’s years-long decline and consolidation.  XRP Open Interest Z-Score Declines To Near Zero Market analyst Xaif Crypto has taken to X to highlight a major shift in XRP’s leverage conditions across the futures market. According to the analyst, derivatives activity has cooled down sharply as Open Interest has returned to a neutral baseline.  Related Reading: Japan Is Going In On XRP, But Can This Drive The Price To $10? Sharing a chart, Xaif Crypto noted that XRP’s Open Interest Z-Score has now flattened near zero, signaling that current positioning among traders is no longer stretched or extreme compared to historical levels. The analyst revealed that this decline suggests that speculation has faded from the market, with leverage also significantly reduced. The shift also points to a reset in XRP’s market structure, where activity is now more balanced and less driven by crowd positioning or heavy bets in different directions.  Interestingly, Xaif Crypto has compared the move to a historical setup, noting that the last time XRP’s OI Z-Score compressed to similar levels, the market entered a strong expansion phase, triggering a massive price rally. During that period in 2024, XRP climbed from $0.50 to $3.40, rallying by more than 600% before momentum cooled. Notably, the price surge followed years of decline and consolidation in XRP around the $0.50 area. The cryptocurrency spent most of 2024 trading between $0.40 and $0.70 while the U.S. SEC lawsuit dragged on. The lawsuit was filed in December 2020, keeping XRP suppressed for nearly five years before final settlement in 2025. Once sentiment shifted, XRP surged over 400% in November 2024 alone, jumping from $0.50 to above $2.5. It then pushed past $3.40 by January 2025 before climbing toward $3.6 in July, just shy of its $3.84 all-time high.  OI And Leverage Drop Signals Potential Price Surge In a connected post, Xaif Crypto noted that XRP’s Open Interest has been steadily declining since a previous blow-off phase in November 2025. As a result, OI is now almost flat across major crypto exchanges, including Binance, ByBit, and OKX, suggesting that fewer traders are currently using borrowed money to bet on XRP’s price direction. Related Reading: XRP And Bitcoin Investors Are ‘Trapped’, But Is There A Way Out? Xaif Crypto also pointed out that leverage levels are now at an extreme low, with Binance’s estimated leverage ratio dropping to around 0.15. This indicates that traders are avoiding taking large, risky bets at the moment. He noted that the market is currently in a calm phase, with most aggressive trading already cleared out. According to the analyst, this kind of low activity often appears before major market moves. With less leverage in the system, there is reduced selling pressure but also less momentum in the market. However, this also means that when new traders return, the XRP price could move up quickly.   Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com

Following its bullish footprint in April, Bitcoin price action slowed over the past week, recording no significant change. Amid this mini consolidation, analysis page XWIN Research Japan reports that traders remain confidently bearish on the digital asset’s position despite recent gains. Related Reading: Bitcoin Sentiment Warning: Social Media FOMO Spikes Again High Open Interest, Negative Funding Rates – Bitcoin Suffers From Intense Pessimism  Funding rates are periodic payments exchanged between traders in perpetual futures contracts to keep the contract price close to the actual spot price. According to XWIN Research Japan, Bitcoin’s funding rate is largely negative at -0.02, suggesting a dominance of short traders who are paying a premium to maintain their bearish positions. Notably, this development follows Bitcoin’s bullish relief in April, during which the premier cryptocurrency has gained by approximately 15% since the month commenced. Nevertheless, the funding rates suggest that most traders view this gain as temporary, with a greater preference for a sustained bear market. At the same time, Open Interest (OI) in the Bitcoin market is surging. The OI represents the total number of active derivative contracts, such as futures or options, currently open in the market. An increase in Open Interest indicates that more capital is being deployed to open contracts in the perpetual market. However, readings from the funding rates suggest this surge in OI is driven by an increase in short positions/contracts. Both metrics combine to paint a rather pessimistic picture of a market environment in which market participants are highly expectant of a deeper downswing. Related Reading: XRP Signals Massive Breakout: $10 Target In Sight As Momentum Builds Negative Setup Favors Potential Bullish Twist According to analysts at XWIN Research Japan, the current Bitcoin market setup, riddled with a high number of short positions, is precarious. Notably, a price rise would trigger a short squeeze, forcing traders to buy back their holdings at a higher price. Interestingly, historical data provide another context for this market environment: prolonged periods of extreme funding rates have preceded sharp price surges rather than the expected price decline. However, this is no guarantee of a bullish reversal. Rather, the market is still extremely bearish but nearing conditions for a potential sharp rebound. At press time, Bitcoin trades at $77,574, down 0.54% over the last day. Meanwhile, daily trading volume has declined by 21.56% to $32.16 billion. Amid its current consolidation, Bitcoin’s bullish target lies at $80,000. On the other hand, a fall below the $74,000 support zone might confirm the current bearish sentiment. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview

In the past week, the Bitcoin market rose by almost 10%, representing a significant rally amid recent bearish struggles. Notably, the leading cryptocurrency has now reclaimed the $73,000 price zone for the first time since mid-March, translating to a mild bullish undertone for most investors. However, traders in the derivatives market remain largely unconvinced of a bullish recovery, given the rise in short positions during this period. Related Reading: Bitcoin Battles Key Levels: Will $70,000 Hold Or Trigger A Fresh Decline? Bitcoin Open Interest Jumps $350M, But Volume Lags According to market analyst Amr Taha, Bitcoin’s price gain was accompanied by a similar rise in leverage across major exchanges, indicating a boost in futures traders’ activity. However, a different on-chain data suggests that new market calls are dominated by bearish positioning rather than bullish ones. For context, data from the [BTC]: Open Interest Change By Exchange 7D Chart shows that Binance registered a $350 million increase in open interest on April 9, marking its highest level recorded since March 20. Meanwhile, Bybit followed with $299 million in new contracts, while OKX also recorded $200 million in new contracts. Amid these impressive figures, more data from the BTC: Binance Cumulative Net Taker Volume/OI [USD] 24H chart shows that net take volume on the world’s largest exchange failed to rise to the same levels. For context, the net taker volume measures the difference between aggressive buying and aggressive selling in the futures market.  Therefore, a positive net taker volume suggests more aggressive buying, and there is greater bullish pressure in the market. However, Amr Taha’s observations indicate that aggressive buying activity accounted for only a small portion of the open interest boost observed on April 9. This suggests that most traders are placing negative bets on the premier cryptocurrency or opting for passive limit bids rather than aggressive market participation. Either way, there is an apparent lack of bullish conviction in the futures market despite Bitcoin’s recent rally. As a result, the sustainability of the upward move increasingly depends on genuine spot demand rather than leveraged derivatives positioning. Related Reading: Bitcoin Spikes Above $72,000 On Easing War Tensions, But CPI Threatens Reversal Bitcoin Price Overview At the time of writing, Bitcoin is valued at $72,837, up 0.34% over the last 24 hours. In tandem, the daily trading volume had experienced a similar slight rise of 3.85%. Despite the encouraging rally over the past week, the maiden cryptocurrency remains deep in a bear market, with its market price 42.08% below the cycle high of $126,200 recorded in October, 2025. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview

More than 8 million wallets now hold XRP — a milestone that comes even as the token’s price sits well below where it stood less than a year ago. Related Reading: XRP Headed For A Price Shock, Japan’s Financial Heavyweight Says A Market Still Chasing Its Peak XRP traded at $1.35 on Monday, up roughly 4% on the day, but still more than 60% below the $3.65 high it hit in July 2025. Despite that gap, activity on the XRP Ledger has kept climbing. Wallet counts crossed 8 million, according to on-chain data, a figure that continues rising regardless of where the price stands. Most of those wallets belong to retail holders with relatively small balances. A much smaller group controls the bulk of the supply. Trading volume told a different story entirely. Data from CoinGlass put XRP’s combined spot and futures activity at $3.86 billion in a single 24-hour window — $3.25 billion of that coming through futures markets and $605 million through spot trading. Open interest stood at $2.50 billion, a sign that traders are not just moving in and out quickly but holding positions. Binance led all exchanges in futures open interest, posting $140 million. Upbit followed at $111 million, with Coinbase close behind at $85 million. That spread across both global and US-based platforms points to broad participation rather than activity concentrated in one region. Despite a softening of the $XRP price that began in July 2025 (shown in black), wallets continue to climb (shown in blue). ????8.1M #XRP Ledger wallets as of April 4, 2026 Source: CryptoQuant pic.twitter.com/vSpOd94jg7 — ????Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) April 5, 2026 Volume Climbs Across Borders XRP’s market cap sat at $82 billion during the same period. The numbers came on a day when broader crypto markets were also moving. Bitcoin briefly pushed back above $69,000, gaining 4% after reports emerged of a possible easing in Middle East tensions. Whether that momentum would carry over to major altcoins like XRP remains unclear. Some believe that the high trading volume was an indication of a possible buy pressure before a bigger move. Others attributed the high volume of futures to the large weight of the derivative instrument as compared to spot trading. This means that the high trading volume of futures might not have represented the same conviction as spot trading. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Gaining Ground, Could Soon Surpass Gold—Analyst Retailers Lead, Institutions Monitor The wallet analysis of XRP indicates that the cryptocurrency network is still dominated by ordinary people instead of big organizations. Millions of wallets have little XRP holdings while the few wallets dominate the majority of XRP supply. The data indicates that such a distribution model has remained the same despite the fall in price since its all-time high last year. With the high volume of trading, increasing wallets, and stagnant prices, analysts are wondering how XRP will proceed in the future. Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView

Crypto analyst Ardi has pointed to a bear market divergence to explain what has been going on with Bitcoin’s price for a while now. His analysis comes just as BTC continues to struggle to hold above $70,000 amid the U.S.-Iran war and rising oil prices.  Analyst Explains What Is Happening With Bitcoin as Price Struggles In an X post, Ardi noted that this is the first time in this bear market that Bitcoin’s price and open interest have diverged on an intermediate timeframe. BTC has climbed over the last six weeks to a low of around $60,000 while its open interest has declined during the same period. He stated that this indicates the recent rally wasn’t driven by new buyers entering, but rather by a large part of it being shorts closing their positions.  Related Reading: How Low Can Bitcoin Price Go? Analyst Shares Worst-Case Scenario The analyst further remarked that traders who shorted the Bitcoin top like saw the drop to $60,000 and felt it was a good position to take profits. “They locked profit. They exited. That exit pressure pushed the price up,” he said. However, Ardi added that this development is not the same as fresh demand, which is sufficient for a reversal.  He said that open interest typically rises when the Bitcoin rally has real strength, as shorts close and longs open to replace them. Meanwhile, new capital enters, forming the foundation for the bullish reversal in BTC. Ardi declared that none of that has happened in this range, with trading activity one-sided even as the leading crypto climbed to as high as $75,000 last week.  Ardi said that the problem is that short covering has a ceiling, and once the last short has closed, the source of upward pressure is gone, leaving no other factor to sustain the move to the upside.  How It Could Play Out For BTC In The Near Term Crypto analyst Colin noted that Bitcoin has been tracking inside the channel of a bear flag since the February 6 low. In line with this, he opined that BTC will eventually break down and that it is not a question of if but when. The analyst also questioned how high the leading crypto will rise before it suffers this breakdown.  Related Reading: Analyst Says Bitcoin Price Is Showing Dangerous Weakness, Here’s Why Colin opined that the highest price Bitcoin might reach before this projected breakdown is around $80,000. He described this as the best-case scenario at this point and that BTC might not even reach this psychological level. However, the analyst also admitted that there are some outlier outcomes, like BTC rising above $80,000 if the U.S.-Iran war suddenly ends.  At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $70,700, up in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com

Whale wallets quietly shifted to buying mode over the past two weeks — even as the broader crypto market absorbed one of its worst single-day liquidation events in recent memory. Related Reading: Bitcoin Stalls Near $75K As Traders Move Coins To Exchanges A Massive Options Expiry Freezes The Price Friday’s settlement of Deribit’s March options contracts has effectively put Bitcoin on hold. The expiry involves 24,838 contracts with a combined notional value of $1.72 billion, and BTC has landed squarely at the $70,000 strike — the exact level known as “max pain,” where the greatest number of options contracts expire worthless. That pins price in a tight band. Traders expect it to hold between $69,000 and $71,000 until contracts settle later today. Max pain is not a coincidence. It describes the point where option sellers — typically institutional market makers — collect maximum losses from buyers. When open interest is concentrated enough, the market tends to drift toward that level as expiry approaches, and that appears to be exactly what happened this week. Bitcoin fell about 1.4% from midnight Thursday, landing at $70,000 by the time derivatives traders were watching closely. Longs Got Crushed While Shorts Walked Away The damage across the broader market was severe. Data shows 141,810 traders were liquidated over a 24-hour stretch, with total losses reaching $541 million. Long positions — bets that prices would rise — accounted for $443 million of that, or roughly 80% of the total. Short sellers, by contrast, lost only $97 million. Bitcoin led the wreckage at $191 million in liquidations. Ether followed at $165 million. The single largest loss was a $18 million ETH/USDT position on the Aster exchange, wiped out in one move. Open Interest, Futures Down The time breakdown tells the story clearly. The one-hour window showed relatively balanced liquidations at $18 million. But zoom out to four hours and the figure jumps to $126 million — and over 12 hours, it hit $300 million, almost entirely from leveraged buyers who got caught on the wrong side. Related Reading: Bitcoin Gains Ground On Gold Even As Both Assets Slide Futures open interest industry-wide fell 5.6% to close to $107 billion. Ether futures dropped 9% alongside a 6% decline in spot price, a combination that points to capital leaving the market outright, not just prices falling. Funding rates for Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and BNB have all turned negative, a sign that short positions are back in demand across the board. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

After dipping below $1,800 earlier in the month, the price of Ethereum has since reclaimed the $2,000 level, which is considered a psychological support zone for many traders. Over the past week, though, the price showed mild downward pressure, struggling to hold sustainably above the $2,000 level. Whale Activity Signals Potential Volatility Surge In Ethereum Markets In a post on the X platform, crypto analyst Joao Wedson stated that there has been a major shift in the behavior of Ethereum’s large holders. The market pundit also pointed out that something deeper may be happening under the surface. Related Reading: Vitalik Buterin Lays Out A Plan To Make Ethereum 1,000 Times More Capable Wedson asserted that wallet addresses holding between 100,000 and 1,000,000 ETH have significantly reduced their holdings over the past 90 days, showing that big holders are selling or moving large amounts of ETH. What’s more interesting is that this shave-off is happening from non-exchange whale wallets. In other words, major private ETH holders, institutions, or early investors may be actively decreasing their exposure, and this could indicate profit-taking, risk-off positioning, or preparation for volatility. All in all, Wedson noted that when this group of whales begins to unwind positions, it often means that a structural shift is occurring beneath the surface. As of this writing, the price of Ethereum stands at around $2,010, showing an almost 5% jump in the past 24 hours. Slumping Global Backdrop Affecting ETH Most According to a recent on-chain observation, this strategic move by ETH large holders could be connected to the worsening macroeconomic conditions. Pseudonymous analyst Darkfost, in a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, revealed that the global economic backdrop is slowly losing momentum, and Ethereum seems to be the most impacted altcoin so far. Starting with the risk-off global climate, Darkfost referenced the core Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level. The Core PPI MoM at +0.8% confirmed persistence of inflation, suggesting that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates soon, which is unfavorable for risk assets. On top of that, the rising tension between the United States and Iran increases geopolitical uncertainty. On Saturday, the US and Israel announced military actions against Iran, which sent crypto prices tumbling over the weekend. However, Ethereum’s Open Interest (OI) on all exchanges dropped from 7.79 million ETH to 5.8 million ETH, with about 2 million of that figure concentrated on Binance.  This exposes that traders are closing positions and leverage is being reduced, with exposure to ETH also shrinking. Additionally, the Notional OI, which measures the total dollar value of open contracts, experienced a sharper drop as positions were closed. For instance, Binance’s Open Interest dropped from over $12.6 billion to $4.1 billion, while Bybit’s cut by two-thirds to $1.9 billion. This shows broad deleveraging across the entire market and not just one platform. Overall, the Ethereum derivatives market is shrinking, as traders are unwinding leverage in response to macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures. Moreover, the current market condition hasn’t been particularly encouraging for investor risk appetite — as seen with the ETH whales. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETF Investors Show Diamond Hands: Only $6.5B In Outflows Since October 10 Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView

Crypto analyst CasiTrades has warned that the XRP price structure has turned bearish, putting the altcoin at risk of a further decline. The analyst also suggested that the price could still crash below $1 as it looks to find a bottom.  XRP Price Structure Shifts Bearish With Key Levels Below In an X post, CasiTrades stated that the XRP price structure has shifted bearish, with key levels below. She further revealed that price is starting to gather sell strength and that the trendline break is looking to form resistance. The analyst added that price is losing the B-wave low, shifting momentum toward supports.  Related Reading: The Uncomfortable Truth About XRP That Shows How High Price Can Actually Go CasiTrades also stated that the $1.11 and $0.87 levels are the main downside targets, indicating that the XRP price could still crash below $1. Meanwhile, the local resistance is at $1.40, with the analyst noting that as long as the price stays below it, the market is likely headed lower. As such, she believes that current levels are still a no-trade zone. She urged market participants to wait for lower supports to be reached or a flip of the $1.65 macro resistance.  It is worth noting that the XRP price has recently climbed above the $1.40 resistance and could invalidate the bearish structure if it breaks above the $1.65 macro resistance, as CasiTrades mentioned. This rally has come on the back of Bitcoin’s rally to around $70,000 following a drop to as low as $64,000 earlier in the week.  CoinGlass data shows an increase in activity in the derivatives market amid the XRP price’s rally above $1.40. Trading volume has surged by over 33% to $6.20 billion, while open interest is up by over 6% to $2.39 billion. The long/short ratio is above 1, indicating that most traders are currently long on the altcoin.  The Bottom Isn’t In Yet For XRP In an X post, crypto analyst TARA stated that she is not convinced that the bottom isn’t in for the XRP price. The analyst noted that an early indication that the bottom is in would be a break above the macro .618 level at $1.47. XRP is said to be testing that level as resistance right now, which TARA noted is a “super critical moment.” Related Reading: XRP Funding Levels Drop To Extreme Negative Levels, What This Means For Price The analyst suggested that for the bottom to be in for the XRP price, it would need a clean break above $1.88, with such confirmation still a long way away. However, she added that a break above the macro .618 support is a really good first step and a key level that it needs to hold if flipped.  At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.44, up over 6% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com

XRP’s derivatives markets are still showing signs of bearish pressure, with funding rates across major exchanges now in negative territory. According to real-time data, funding rates have been predominantly below zero in recent trading sessions, with the lowest exchange funding rate recorded around -0.0748%.  At the same time, open interest has returned to levels associated with long-term base zones in previous years. Could this environment lead to a turning point, or is further downside still unfolding for XRP’s price action? Bearish Derivatives Positioning Shows In Deeply Negative Funding Real-time funding metrics from Coinglass reveal that XRP’s average funding across major exchanges has dipped into negative readings, and several crypto exchanges are on bearish rates. At the time of writing, the lowest funding observed is at -0.0748%, which is a clear indication that short positions are currently dominating sentiment. Related Reading: Analyst Reveals What XRP Price Will Move Toward In Bid For $4 Negative funding rates mean that perpetual futures shorts are paying longs, and bearish bets outweigh bullish ones across exchanges. In practice, heavily negative funding can reflect overcrowded short exposure. However, this is a condition that sometimes precedes sharp rebounds if the price begins to stabilize, as short sellers may eventually be forced to cover. Technical analysis posted on the social media platform X by crypto analyst Osemka shows that XRP’s aggregated funding rate, weighted by open interest, is in deep negative territory on a weekly timeframe. As it stands, this metric is now at its lowest level since late 2022, only bested by the week of the November 2022 FTX crash. However, the interesting thing is that the prolonged period of negative funding back then marked a bottom in 2022.  Open Interest Returns to Multi-Year Base Levels Open interest has also dropped significantly alongside funding in negative levels. The weekly aggregated open interest metric is now sitting on levels associated with previous multi-year accumulation bases. This base, shown in the chart above, has been acting as the base level for open interest since October 2022. Each time open interest has revisited this zone since then, it has been followed by a rebound to higher levels. Related Reading: Here’s The Mistake Most People Are Making With XRP; Pundit Reveals In terms of price action, XRP has been struggling to find a sustainable bottom because the wider crypto market is yet to turn bullish. As it stands, XRP now needs to hold above two intermediate supports. The first of these is around $1.45, where recent daily candles have registered wicks. Beneath this lies a larger demand area roughly spanning $1.15 to $1.30.  On one hand, the negative funding rate points to bearish positioning stress, but history shows this has always occurred just before lows. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $1.49, although it recently traded above $1.60 during the weekly open. A weekly close above $1.50 will be the first step to confirming a return to bullish momentum. Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com

Bitcoin has experienced another turbulent week marked by sustained downward pressure, reinforcing the broader bearish sentiment that has dominated the market in recent months. Despite late market relief on Friday, the leading cryptocurrency has struggled to reclaim key resistance levels and presently hovers around the $69,000 price region. Meanwhile, analysts continue to rely on on-chain data to evaluate investor behavior and forecast Bitcoin’s possible trajectory in the coming weeks. Related Reading: When Will Bitcoin Bounce Back? Top Analyst Breaks Down Prior Major Corrections CPI Data Lifts Risk Sentiment And Bitcoin Futures Activity In a recent QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, seasoned analyst Amir Taha draws attention to the Bitcoin market’s reaction to the latest release of the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. The market expert notes that inflation reading came in at 2.4%, surpassing market expectations and driving renewed optimism across risk assets, e.g., Bitcoin. Following the CPI announcement, derivatives data from Binance shows a sharp increase in Bitcoin market activity. Firstly, there was a notable spike in Net Taker Volume, where a single hourly reading recorded over $265 million. The Net Taker Volume measures aggressive trading behavior in futures markets, and such a high positive value indicates buyers rushed to open long positions, likely in anticipation of a price rebound. Additionally, the rise in Open Interest (OI) percent change suggests that traders are committing new capital into leveraged positions rather than simply closing existing trades. This surge in leveraged exposure highlights renewed speculative appetite but simultaneously introduces heightened liquidation risk if price momentum reverses. Related Reading: Bitcoin NUPL Back In Hope/Fear Region: What Happens Next? Bitcoin Indicators Reveal Short-Term Stress But Long-Term Stability While the derivatives markets reflect growing bullish positioning, on-chain metrics suggest underlying fragility among short-term participants. The Short-Term Holder to Long-Term Holder (STH-LTH) Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) indicator recently declined to 0.72, falling below previous local bottoms recorded in August 2024 and April 2025. Notably, this level indicates that STH is currently holding average unrealized losses of approximately 44%. Historically, similar declines have coincided with capitulation phases, during which weaker market participants close positions due to emotional or financial pressure. Taha shares a further confirmation of this divergence using the STH-LTH Net Position Realized Cap data. Short-term holders have recorded a steep decline, with realized cap value dropping to approximately -$57 billion, indicating substantial realized losses. Conversely, long-term holders maintain a positive realized cap near $35 billion, demonstrating continued resilience and accumulation tendencies despite a major market panic among distressed short-term traders. Taken together, the post-CPI surge in leveraged long positions alongside mounting losses among short-term holders points toward elevated market instability. As a result, Bitcoin investors should anticipate significant volatility in the near term, as the market continues to await a decisive shift in macroeconomic or on-chain momentum to establish a clear trajectory. At press time, Bitcoin trades at $68,929, reflecting a 5.06% increase in the past day. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

Ethereum climbed back above $2,000 after a softer-than-expected US CPI print, and the move has traders and analysts debating whether the worst is behind the coin or if this is a temporary relief rally. Related Reading: Calm Down: Ethereum Has Survived 8 Major 50% Falls, Lee Reminds Investors Reports say futures open interest has fallen sharply over the last 30 days, funding rates have swung into deeply negative territory, and some on-chain metrics point to a clustered support zone below current prices. Open Interest Drop Raises Questions According to CryptoQuant, the headline figure showing an 80 million ETH decline in open interest across major venues grabbed attention. That number, if taken at face value, would be huge. It suggests large positions were closed rather than new ones being put on. But the scale of the change also invites scrutiny; reporting errors or dollar-value comparisons mislabeled as ETH can happen. Still, a sizable pullback in futures exposure on exchanges including Binance, Gate, Bybit and OKX has been logged, and that much appears real. Funding Rates And The Crowd Funding rates on some platforms are pushing to levels not seen in roughly three years. When traders pay to hold short positions, it signals strong bearish conviction. It is reported that such extremes tend to be followed by a sharp reversal as the crowd can become one-sided, and that leads to a quick reversal as the market sentiment changes. This was seen at the end of 2022, where there was extreme shorting followed by a quick reversal. This does not mean that it will happen this time around as markets can remain one-sided for longer than expected. Support Zones And Technical Targets Glassnode’s on-chain data reveals a significant cost-basis area between $1,880 and $1,900, where about 1.3 million ETH was traded. The $2,000 mark is acting as a psychological anchor and is reinforced by moving average clusters. A breakout from the recent falling wedge pattern points to an initial measured target near $2,150, a ceiling that would be tested before higher resistance near $2,260 and then $2,500. Those levels are not certainties; broader market tone and Bitcoin’s direction will influence whether they are reached. Related Reading: XRP Set To Dethrone Bitcoin Within 6 Years, Entrepreneur Says Reduced open interest lowers the risk of cascade liquidations for now, which can tame intraday volatility. At the same time, low funding rates show that bearish bets are still active and could be squeezed if momentum turns. Reports say accumulation wallets increased inflows when prices dipped, hinting at longer-term conviction among some investors. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin’s next big options gravity well sits on Mar. 27 (260327), and the reason is simple: this is where the market has parked a thick stack of conditional bets that will need to be unwound, rolled forward, or paid out as the clock runs down. The Mar. 27 expiry carries about $8.65B in notional OI […]
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Solana’s market looks like a tightly wound spring right now. Prices have been slipping while futures activity is picking up, and that gap is what traders are watching most closely. Related Reading: Russia’s Biggest Exchange To Launch XRP Indices And Futures It’s a setup that can keep losses rolling — or flip fast if a wave of short covering hits. Either way, the scene is driven more by bets than by steady buying. Derivatives Betting Intensifies According to reports, more futures contracts for SOL are being opened even as the price moves lower. That means fresh bets are being placed, not just old ones being closed. Funding rates for perpetual contracts have moved into negative territory. When funding is negative, those backing short positions are paying those on the long side. It’s a clear sign of bearish leaning in the derivatives market. Leverage A Big Part Of The Story Reports say many of these positions are sized up with leverage. Traders are piling on with borrowed exposure. That raises the odds of violent swings because margin calls can trigger cascades. A squeeze can happen quickly. If a piece of positive news appears or a large buyer steps in, those who are short may be forced to buy back, and that buying itself can push the price up fast. Price is going down. Open Interest is going up. Funding is going down.$SOL is getting heavily shorted here. pic.twitter.com/YuYAy9lzZ0 — Ted (@TedPillows) February 4, 2026 Price Action Shows Weakness Across short-term charts — intraday and daily — SOL has been under pressure. Spot trading volume remains light, which makes every trade count more. Some traders are trimming risk because volatility in larger coins has spooked the market. In plain terms: fewer hands are willing to hold SOL at these levels, and that lack of real buying support keeps the downside pathway open. Volatility Could Swing Either Way This environment is speculative. High open interest plus negative funding is a bearish combo, but it also loads the market with risk. Covered shorts can unwind in a hurry. Liquidity gaps are where big moves start. The same factors that drive downward momentum can, under different circumstances, accelerate a rebound. Related Reading: Crypto Could Bounce Soon As Fundamentals Firm Up, Tom Lee Says Based on reports, the clearest signals to follow are changes in open interest, shifts in funding rates, and sudden spikes in spot volume or order book depth. Also watch news flow closely; a single announcement can change sentiment overnight. Risk management matters here. Size positions so that forced liquidations are avoidable. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin’s recent price action had a familiar signature: leverage built on the bounce, funding turned supportive for longs, then the market ran the nearest pockets of fragility until forced selling took over. BTC bouncing up and down in the $80,000 range is a result of futures positioning. Data showed roughly $794 million in Bitcoin long […]
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Amid the cheers of the new year, Ethereum achieved a decisive breakout above the long-standing price resistance around $3,000. According to market analyst Amr Taha, this price gain has been accompanied by significant changes in the derivatives market, which suggest an aggressive shift in investors’ positioning. Related Reading: 2026 Crypto Market Prediction: Will Prices Soar Or Face Continued Declines? Ethereum Traders Flood Market With Long Positions To Usher In 2026 In a QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, Amr Taha shares an in-depth analysis of the Binance derivatives market following ETH’s recent surge in the first days of 2026. Notably, the market expert reports an impulsive rise in ETH open interest on the world’s largest exchange, in what they described as “one of the strongest single-day increases seen recently. As the spot price climbed above $3,100, data from CryptoQuant shows that ETH open interest rose from approximately $6.2 billion to around $7.1 billion, representing a 12% increase in the last day. Taha highlights the importance of the coincidence, stating a rise in open interest amid price appreciation suggested that traders were opening fresh positions, rather than the move being driven solely by short covering.   Interestingly, more data showed the ETH Cumulative Volume Delta – which measures the net difference between buying and selling volume over time – also rose alongside open interest, implying several positive developments. One of which is that long positions comprised the majority of the newly opened positions in the market, citing a heavy bullish sentiment around Ethereum.  In addition, ETH buyers demonstrated heightened urgency by favoring market orders over passive limit bids, indicating aggressive taker-side demand, implying a strong market conviction that preferred to engage the market immediately rather than wait for lower prices. Related Reading: Popular Crypto Founder Dumps Millions In Ethereum, Here’s What He’s Buying A Potential Bull Trap?  In analyzing the liquidation heatmap for the ETH derivative market, Amr Taha unveiled other critical price developments. Notably, ETH’s recent surge was partly driven by a short-squeeze effect around the $3,100 price level. Notably, when the altcoin touched this level, over-leveraged short traders had to defend their positions, effectively creating a market demand that translated into a sudden price gain.  While the recent price increase and open interest boost represent positive moments for the market, Taha warns that forced liquidation often results in temporary resistance zones on the lower timeframe, especially when accompanied by rising funding rates. The analyst also explains that Ethereum’s price move appears leverage-driven and highly sentimental rather than structural, suggesting equal room for both opportunity and risk. At press time, the prominent altcoin trades at $3,087, representing a 2.51% gain in the last day. Featured image from Pexels, chart from Tradingview

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has stepped forward to address swirling rumors that he dumped his ADA holdings, sparking concerns about his potential role in the altcoin’s dramatic 80% price crash. Amid speculation and social media chatter, Hoskinson firmly denies the claims, insisting he did not personally contribute to the decline by offloading his assets.  Cardano Founder Denies Claims Of Selling ADA  Despite the festive holiday season, Hoskinson was bombarded with accusations of contributing to ADA’s 80% price crash over the past four years. Initially, the Cardano founder took to X on December 25 to share an optimistic message for 2026, encouraging holders and community members not to lose hope.  Related Reading: What The New Mightnight Launch Means For The Cardano Network He emphasized that despite the challenges of the past years, there is much to look forward to in 2026. He extended holiday greetings and expressed appreciation for the Cardano community, including members like @injective_pie, who has been vocal about ADA’s price performance and its blockchain’s progress over the years.   While many responded positively to Hoskinson’s messages and holiday greetings, @injective_pie confronted him directly, accusing him of dumping ADA. The community member questioned the Cardano founder about selling his ADA at $3 and not buying back at lower levels around $0.3, suggesting that such actions could undermine trust in the crypto project.  Hoskinson swiftly dismissed these allegations, insisting that he did not dump his ADA and that false narratives do not change reality. The member’s response highlighted the tension between the Cardano founder and some skeptical segments of the community. It also underscored the ongoing dissatisfaction with the current price of ADA.   Notably, frustration among ADA investors has been growing over the years, as the cryptocurrency has failed to regain its all-time highs. Since its 2021 peak, the Cardano price has steadily declined, most recently dropping toward $0.35 after crashing by over 3% this week. Year-to-date, the altcoin has fallen by more than 50%, underscoring the prolonged challenges facing the network despite its strong community support.  Cardano’s underperformance stands in contrast to other major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which reached new ATHs this year. Even with its surging daily trading volume of more than 96%, ADA has yet to show any significant upward momentum, declining even more as the broader market navigates ongoing bearish pressures.  ADA Price Weakens Further As Open Interest Drops Amidst sluggish price action, data from Coinglass shows that ADA Futures Open Interest (OI) has declined from $1.72 billion in October 2025 to $651 million as of December 26. This massive change represents a steep decline of more than 62% in less than three months.   Related Reading: Cardano Founder Reveals “Game Plan” For 2026, But Can ADA Price Still Recover? With key fundamentals deteriorating and market sentiment weakening, additional pressure has been placed on ADA’s price. On-chain data also shows that Cardano’s Fear & Greed Index stands at 37, firmly placed in the fear zone, as the price continues to trend lower. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com

Ethereum (ETH) is approaching a pivotal derivatives deadline as billions of dollars in options contracts near expiration, placing the $3,000 price level firmly in focus for traders. While traders are betting on a move higher, Ethereum’s near-term price action remains uncertain. The outcome of this options expiry could help shape ETH’s next big move, either to the upside or down to lower levels—particularly as investors reassess their expectations following November’s volatility and choppy conditions.  The price of Ethereum is currently sitting above $2,900 as a massive options expiration worth roughly $6 billion approaches. This event is expected to play a major role in shaping short-term price action and could influence investor sentiment heading into 2026.  Ethereum Options Set To Expire This Friday Data from the derivatives platform Laevitas show that $6 billion in ETH options will expire on Friday, 26 December, with call positions outnumbering puts by more than 2.2 times. Despite this imbalance, bears still hold the edge unless Ethereum’s price moves decisively above $3,100. Related Reading: Ethereum Exchange Supply Just Crashed To New Lows, Why This Is Bullish For Price Earlier this year, many traders had positioned for Ethereum to surge significantly by year-end. However, those bullish expectations were undermined by a massive November decline, leaving ETH’s current options expiry vulnerable to further downside pressure.  While call options still dominate Open Interest (OI), many of these positions would expire worthless if the Ethereum price fails to recover and push higher. This creates a fragile setup and leaves the market in a delicate position, where overly optimistic bets could quickly unwind if key price levels do not hold. Notably, the $3,100 price level has emerged as a critical pivot ahead of the options expiration set for this Friday. Traders have called this level “max pain,” as it represents the price at which the most options contracts would expire worthless. A close below this zone could give bears control and potentially open the door to further price declines. On the other hand, a clean break above $3,100 could flip momentum rapidly.  Presently, around $3.8 billion in ETH options are expected to expire on Deribit, the world’s largest Bitcoin and Ethereum options exchange. In addition, more than $23.6 billion in Bitcoin options are scheduled to expire on Friday, potentially adding significant volatility to the already fragile market.  Analyst Expect Further Volatility For Ethereum With the massive $6 billion Ethereum options expiry on the horizon, traders appear to be bracing for significant market volatility, as the event could trigger a sharp, decisive move in ETH’s price. Separately, crypto analyst Ted Pillows anticipates further volatility for ETH if its price moves in either of two key directions.  Related Reading: Major Ethereum Metric Just Hit A New All-Time High – Can Price Reclaim $3,000? He says that Ethereum is currently in a no-trading zone; however, volatility could occur if the price reclaims the $3,000 level or retests the $2,700-$2,800 zone. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com