- The king coin’s funding rates plunged into the negative zone.
- On a long-term, price and OI have fallen in lockstep since the crash on 17 August, construed as a bullish signal by experts.
Bearish clouds continued to loom over Bitcoin’s horizon as the year’s worst crash took its toll on the broader cryptocurrency market.
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Traders bet on price losses
According to a recent post by popular on-chain sleuth, the king coin’s funding rates plunged into the negative zone, meaning that the majority of the traders were looking to profit from price declines.
Funding Rates are in the negative zone 🔴
This indicates that traders are eager to speculate on lower prices for Bitcoin.
And I’ll love to see it sustained for some days.https://t.co/wvV5qHrXxW pic.twitter.com/MLxIwbFxbA
— Maartunn (@JA_Maartun) August 20, 2023
As is well known, funding rates are the periodic payments made to either short or long traders. These are the primary forces used to maintain the balance between perpetual contract prices and the underlying crypto asset spot price.
In a bearish market, funding rates are negative, indicating that dominant short traders are paying to long traders.
Exploring other key derivatives indicators
While funding rates suggested that prices would fall, the Open Interest (OI) revealed a new set of interesting findings.
Bitcoin climbed to $26,260 in the last 24 hours of trading. This led to a spurt in the new positions getting opened. The increase in price complemented by a rise in the OI pointed towards new money coming into the market. Experts typically take this as a bullish signal.
However, the excitement evaporated quickly as BTC retreated back to $26,000 by 11:00 pm ET. As a result, the OI also fell.
Source: Coinglass
A larger picture, though, revealed that price and OI have fallen in lockstep since the crash on 17 August. This could be construed as a bullish signal as a downtrend would end once all long-position holders finish liquidating their holdings.
How much are 1,10,100 BTCs worth today?
The Long/Short Ratio chart narrated a similar story. Bets for BTC’s price gains outpaced those for price losses temporarily. However, as soon the spot price declined, these long traders clawed back.
Source: Coinglass
A range bound market again?
The market sentiment was at neutral, as per the latest reading from the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index. Over the last two months, the king coin has mostly reacted to news around the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) applications.
In the absence of new developments around the same, Bitcoin may once again be trapped in a narrow trading range.
Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index is 38 – Neutral
Current price: $26,190 pic.twitter.com/GsYtRHEMhS— Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index (@BitcoinFear) August 21, 2023
