Bitcoin’s rally to a brand new all-time excessive of $111,620 on Could 22 was adopted by a surge in futures exercise, with whole open curiosity (OI) throughout exchanges reaching $80.91 billion, the best ever recorded.
Could 22 OI represents a $6.66 billion enhance over the previous 24 hours and caps off a five-day climb that added over $15 billion in futures publicity since Could 18.
Such a big enlargement in open curiosity exhibits a rise in participation from each institutional and retail merchants, with leveraged positions throughout the market rising in tandem with Bitcoin’s value.
On Binance, the biggest derivatives venue by quantity, OI hit $13.60 billion, the best since Dec. 16, 2024. This exhibits a transparent resurgence of speculative positioning on the alternate, which had seen a decline in exercise all through March and April.
Between Could 18 and Could 22, Bitcoin rose from roughly $103,500 to over $111,000, gaining almost 8% in 5 days. Futures OI expanded by greater than 23% over the identical interval, a progress fee that far outpaced spot value appreciation. This divergence suggests spot-driven demand and an inflow of leveraged capital, probably pushed by momentum merchants positioning for continued upside.
Whereas document OI highlights sturdy market engagement, it additionally introduces elevated liquidation threat ought to volatility spike. Given the sharp rise in open contracts with out a corresponding cooling-off in value, any abrupt reversal might set off a cascade of compelled liquidations.
The rise in value and OI exhibits the market getting into a brand new section of speculative depth. Whether or not this interprets into sustained increased costs or introduces short-term instability could depend upon the flexibility of bulls to defend the $110,000 stage in opposition to potential drawdowns.
