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Bitcoin futures open interest jumps by $1B: Manipulation or hedge?

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Bitcoin’s (BTC) open interest on derivatives exchanges experienced a sudden surge of $1 billion on Sep. 18, prompting investors to question whether whales were accumulating in anticipation of the unsealing of Binance’s court filings.

However, a closer look at derivatives metrics suggests a more nuanced picture, as the funding rate did not exhibit clear signs of excessive buying demand.

The decision to unseal these documents was granted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which had accused Binance of non-cooperation despite previously agreeing to a consent order related to unregistered securities operations and other allegations.

BTC futures aggregate open interest, USD (green, left). Source: CoinGlass

The open interest spiked to $12.1 billion while Bitcoin’s price concurrently increased by 3.4%, the highest point in over two weeks at $27,430.

However, investors soon realized that, aside from a comment by the Binance.US auditor regarding the challenges of ensuring full collateralization, there was little concrete information revealed in the unsealed documents.

Later in the day, Federal Judge Zia Faruqui rejected the SEC’s request to inspect Binance.US’s technical infrastructure and share additional information. Nevertheless, the judge stipulated that Binance.US must furnish more details about its custody solution, casting doubt on whether Binance International ultimately controls these assets.

By the end of Sep. 18, Bitcoin’s open interest had receded to $11.3 billion as its price dropped by 2.4% to $26,770. This decline indicated that the entities behind the open interest surge were no longer inclined to maintain their positions.

These whales were likely disappointed with the court’s outcomes, or the price action may not have unfolded as expected. In any case, 80% of the open interest increase disappeared in less than 24 hours.

Futures’ buyers and sellers are matched at all times

It can be assumed that most of the demand for leverage was driven by bullish sentiment, as Bitcoin’s price climbed alongside the increase in open interest and subsequently plummeted as 80% of the contracts were closed. However, attributing cause and effect solely to Binance’s court rulings seems unwarranted for several reasons.

Firstly, no one anticipated that the unsealed documents would favor Binance or its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, given that it was the SEC that had originally requested their release. Additionally, the Bitcoin futures contract funding rate, which gauges imbalances between long and short positions, remained largely stable throughout this period.

BTC futures average 8-hour funding rate. Source: CoinGlass

If there had indeed been an unforeseen demand surge of $1 billion in open interest, primarily driven by desperate buyers, it’s reasonable to assume that the funding rate would have spiked above 0.01%. However, quite the opposite unfolded on Sept. 19, as Bitcoin’s open interest expanded to $11.7 billion while the funding rate plunged to zero.

With Bitcoin’s price rallying above $27,200 during this second phase of open interest growth, it becomes increasingly evident that, regardless of the underlying motives, the price pressure tends to be upward. While the exact rationale may remain elusive, certain trading patterns could shed light on this movement.

Market makers’ hedge could explain OI spike

One plausible explanation could be the involvement of market makers executing buy orders on behalf of substantial clients. This would account for the initial enthusiasm in both the spot market and BTC futures, propelling the price higher. After the initial surge, the market maker becomes fully hedged, eliminating the need for further buying and leading to a price correction.

During the second phase of the trade, there is no impact on Bitcoi price, as the market maker must offload the BTC futures contracts and purchase spot Bitcoin. This results in a reduction in open interest and may disappoint some participants who were anticipating additional buying fervor.

Rather than hastily labeling every “Bart” formation as manipulation, it is advisable to delve into the operations of arbitrage desks and carefully analyze the BTC futures funding rate before jumping to conclusions. Thus, when there is no excessive demand for leveraged long positions, an increase in open interest does not necessarily signify a buying spree, as was the case on Sep. 18.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Cryptocurrency

$500M in Shorts Liquidated as Bitcoin (BTC) Blasts Above $101K

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It almost felt inevitable today that bitcoin will eventually break past the coveted $100,000 milestone and after a brief hesitation, the asset has soared to a new multi-month peak above $101,000.

The altcoins have followed suit with massive price gains from the likes of PEPE, SUI, FARTCOIN, and many others.

BTCUSD. Source: TradingView
BTCUSD. Source: TradingView

CryptoPotato reported earlier today that BTC had risen to $99,700 amid reports that China and the US will have talks later this week in Switzerland in regards to striking a tariff deal. Later, Trump teased a big announcement for tomorrow that will involve the UK.

BTC stood close to the six-digit entry territory for almost the entire day and was stopped there at first. However, the asset flew past it an hour ago and kept surging to a new three-month peak of over $101,000.

Recall that just a month ago the primary cryptocurrency struggled below $80,000 and even dumped to a 2025 low of under $75,000 amid the darkest hours of the Trade War.

Now, though, bitcoin’s realized cap has marked another all-time high, while the break above $100,000 could be different than previous such increases.

VIRTUAL and PENGU lead the daily gains from the top 100 alts, with price surges of 36% and 33%, respectively. PEPE, SUI, and FARTCOIN follow suit by charting 20-25% daily jumps.

Even Ethereum has soared by double digits in the past 24 hours, and managed to break past $2,000 for the first time in well over a month.

The total value of liquidations on a daily scale is up to $580 million, according to CoinGlass. The majority, expectedly, comes from short positions (almost $500 million). The total number of wrecked trades is above 145,000.

Liquidation Heat Map. Source: CoinGlass
Liquidations Heat Map. Source: CoinGlass
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SKALE Announces BITE Protocol to Protect Against Blockchain Industry’s Nearly $2 Billion MEV Vulnerability

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[PRESS RELEASE – San Francisco, CA, May 8th, 2025]

BITE is set to become the first protocol to eliminate MEV at the consensus level, ending front-running, sandwich attacks, and other transaction exploits.

SKALE Labs, the team behind the gas-free invisible blockchain network SKALE, today announced the launch of BITE Protocol, the industry’s first consensus-level solution designed to eliminate Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). With over $1.8 billion lost to MEV extraction since 2020, BITE Protocol seeks to bring blockchain transactions in line with that of traditional finance transactions, eliminating front-running tactics that have plagued the industry as more traditional institutions enter the space.

BITE, short for ‘Blockchain Integrated Threshold Encryption‘, prevents any party, including validators, from accessing transaction contents before a block is finalized. While previous attempts at eliminating MEV have only addressed issues at a surface level, BITE’s new cryptographic protocol integrates threshold encryption directly into the consensus layer, creating a fundamentally level playing field for all blockchain participants. By encrypting transactions before they enter the mempool and only decrypting them after block finalization, BITE delivers true transaction privacy and fairness.

SKALE Labs CEO and Co-Founder Jack O’Holleran commented, “BITE Protocol represents a watershed moment for blockchain technology, which could result in making current L1 blockchain technology obsolete. BITE Protocol encrypts consensus and completely removes MEV from blockchain, finally putting an end to front-running, sandwich attacks, time bandit attacks, and other methods of taking value from end users. Rather than applying band-aid solutions to the MEV problem, BITE addresses it at its root through cryptographic guarantees in the consensus layer itself. “

The protocol is poised to transform the blockchain landscape from one where privileged actors can exploit ordinary users to one where everyone operates with the same information at the same time, bringing blockchain closer to the fairness expected in traditional financial markets while maintaining its decentralized nature. The protocol’s impact extends across decentralized exchanges, NFT marketplaces, lending protocols, on-chain games, prediction markets, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platforms, where transaction fairness and privacy are essential for bringing traditional assets onto blockchain networks.

For more information, please visit: https://skale.space/blog/introducing-bite-protocol-the-end-of-mev-and-the-dawn-of-blockchain-privacy

About SKALE Labs

SKALE, the gas-free invisible Layer1 blockchain network, is “built different” to scale gaming, AI, social, and high-performance dApps to the masses. SKALE Chains are gas-free, fast, and EVM-compatible, making them ideal for a wide range of decentralized applications. With a commitment to driving the mass adoption of Web3 technologies, SKALE empowers developers and businesses to build scalable, efficient, and user-centric blockchain applications.

Harmonizing speed, security, and decentralization, SKALE Labs was born in Cali in 2017 by Jack O’Holleran and Stan Kladko, PhD. As of 2025, the network serves over 55 million unique active wallets and has saved users over $11 billion in gas fees.

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Top Bitcoin (BTC) Predictions as the Price Approaches $100K

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TL;DR

  • Popular analysts see momentum building for a BTC breakout, with short-term targets ranging from $104.5K to $108K.
  • Positive net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs and declining exchange balances signal strong investor confidence, but the RSI breached 70, which could be a precursor of an incoming correction.

What Are the Next Targets?

The primary cryptocurrency has been on a serious uptrend lately, with its price currently standing just south of the psychological mark of $100,000. That said, it’s hard to believe that nearly a month ago, it briefly tumbled below $75,000, but after all, such fluctuations are quite common in the crypto world. 

Bitcoin’s latest rally (and that of the entire digital asset market) was likely fueled by US President Donald Trump, who teased a “major trade deal” with a “respected country.” The price jump also came shortly after the FOMC meeting, during which the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 4.25%- 4.50%. 

Bitcoin’s pump toward $100K has sparked fresh optimism among analysts, with many envisioning more room for growth in the short term. X user Rekt Capital thinks the asset needs to stay above $98,700 “for the retest of the week to position itself for a breakout towards $104.5K.” 

For their part, CRYPTOWZRD predicted that a push beyond $100,000 can trigger further upside pressure to as high as $108,000. 

“On the other hand, any geopolitical shift with China can cause extreme volatility, where $91,500 will be the main daily support target from a worsening situation,” they warned.

Crypto Yoddha and Merlijn The Trader also gave their two cents. The former believes BTC is about to break a long-term range high resistance, which could fuel an ascent towards a new ATH of roughly $140,000. 

Merlijn The Trader did not set an exact price target, simply forecasting that the asset “is ready to detonate.” He based the potential scenario on the “perfect rising channel” and “momentum building.”

The Signals From the Indicators

In addition to the bullish forecasts mentioned above, some important metrics hint that BTC’s rally is nowhere near its end.

Data compiled by SoSoValue shows that the daily total net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have been positive on most days in the past few weeks. This means that more capital is entering these funds than exiting, signaling growing investor confidence and the asset’s growing appeal as an investment choice.

On the other hand, BTC’s exchange netflow has been negative in the last several days, reflecting a shift from centralized platforms towards self-custody methods. This is generally considered a bullish factor since it reduces the immediate selling pressure. 

BTC Exchange Netflow
BTC Exchange Netflow, Source: CryptoQuant

Still, not all indicators suggest a continued upswing. The Relative Strength Index (RSI), which measures the speed and magnitude of the latest price changes, has surged past 70. Readings above that level are interpreted as bearish since they indicate the asset might have entered overbought territory and could be due for a pullback. 

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