Bitcoin derivatives saw a surge in open interest on October 21st, as the cryptocurrency approached the $70,000 mark. CoinGlass reported that the open interest (OI) on Bitcoin futures contracts had reached an all-time high of $40.5 billion. Open interest refers to the value or number of outstanding futures contracts that have not yet expired. It is a measure of the amount of money invested in Bitcoin derivatives at any given time, with higher open interest indicating potentially more leverage and volatility in the system.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) had the largest share of the open interest at 30.7%, followed by Binance with 20.4% and Bybit with 15%. During periods of high open interest, sharp price movements can trigger cascading liquidations, leading to selling in the spot market and resulting in significant price drops for Bitcoin. In early August, for example, Bitcoin prices plunged nearly 20% in less than two days, falling below $50,000.
Bitcoin reached a high of $69,380 in early trading on October 21st, but was rejected at resistance and pulled back to $69,033 at the time of publication. According to CoinGecko, the cryptocurrency is currently just 6.4% below its all-time high of $73,738.
In a related report, it was suggested that if Bitcoin surpasses the $70,000 mark, it could have a positive impact on altcoins such as Ether and Solana. Both cryptocurrencies have been outperforming Bitcoin in terms of daily gains, with Ether rising 3.5% to surpass $2,750 and Solana gaining 6% to reach nearly $170 during early trading on October 21st. However, both assets have experienced slight pullbacks since then.
In other news, a hacker responsible for compromising an SEC X account has been arrested, and a forecast predicts that Bitcoin could reach $233,000. These and other stories can be found in the latest edition of Hodler’s Digest, covering October 13th to 19th.