Bitcoin Open Interest Hits Lowest Level Since August

Binance open interest drops below 100,000 BTC, lowest level in over a year.

Updated Mar 5, 2025, 1:09 p.m. UTCPublished Mar 5, 2025, 12:15 p.m. UTC

Bitcoin (BTC) open interest (OI) has fallen to its lowest level since August, currently standing at 413,000 BTC ($36 billion), according to Glassnode data. OI represents the total funds allocated in outstanding futures contracts, effectively measuring the amount of leverage in the bitcoin system.

Since these contracts are denominated in dollars, their value fluctuates with bitcoin's price. To provide a more stable measure, we assess open interest in bitcoin terms, which eliminates price-based distortions.

Glassnode data shows that since November, bitcoin open interest has dropped from 546,000 BTC to 413,000 BTC across all exchanges, with a significant portion of this decline attributed to the unwinding of CME open interest, particularly in the basis trade.

Meanwhile, bitcoin dropped from $109,000 to $78,000 and then recovered to $90,000. This would assume that a large part of this recent run-up has been spot-driven rather than leverage-driven.

Additionally, Binance—the second-largest exchange by OI—has seen its OI drop to a 12-month low of just over 100,000 BTC, indicating

that leverage has been significantly reduced from a retail perspective. This decline reflects a sharp reduction in speculative activity, driven by bitcoin’s extreme price volatility over the past few months.

Furthermore, open interest as a percentage of bitcoin’s market cap has fallen below 2% for the first time since February 2024, underscoring the sharp decline in speculation and leverage.

Open Interest divided by Market Cap (Glassnode)

James Van Straten

James Van Straten is a Senior Analyst at CoinDesk, specializing in Bitcoin and its interplay with the macroeconomic environment. Previously, James worked as a Research Analyst at Saidler & Co., a Swiss hedge fund, where he developed expertise in on-chain analytics. His work focuses on monitoring flows to analyze Bitcoin's role within the broader financial system. In addition to his professional endeavors, James serves as an advisor to Coinsilium, a UK publicly traded company, where he provides guidance on their Bitcoin treasury strategy. He also holds investments in Bitcoin, MicroStrategy (MSTR), and Semler Scientific (SMLR).