Data: The volume of Bitcoin's open contracts has dropped to its lowest level since August last year, and the proportion of open contracts to market value has fallen below 2%

According to CoinDesk, Glassnode data shows that the open interest (OI) of Bitcoin has dropped to its lowest level since August last year, currently at 413,000 Bitcoins (about $36 billion). Open interest represents the total amount of funds in unsettled futures contracts and essentially measures the leverage level in the Bitcoin system.

Since November, Bitcoin's open interest has decreased from 546,000 to 413,000. A significant part of this decrease is attributed to a reduction in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's (CME) open positions, especially basis trades. During this period, the price of Bitcoin fell from $109,000 to $78,000 before rebounding back up to $90,000. This suggests that recent price increases have been largely driven by spot trading rather than leverage.

In addition, according to calculations based on open interest volume; The second-largest exchange saw its open position drop down to a twelve-month low just above 100k bitcoins indicating a significant reduction in retail-side leverage. The proportion of bitcoin's OI market value has fallen below 2% for the first time since February 2024 highlighting an obvious decline in speculation and leverage.