Bitcoin funding spikes as longs defend $70K; ETFs see outflows
Bitcoin funding rates rose as longs added positions to defend $70,000 while spot ETFs posted over $200 million in outflows and Coinbase showed a negative premium.
Funding rates across cryptocurrency futures spiked as traders increased long exposure to defend the $70,000 support. On Wednesday spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $200 million in outflows and Coinbase displayed a negative premium.
Cross-exchange funding rates were mostly positive to neutral and aggregated futures open interest remained relatively stable despite day-over-day selling, indicating traders kept leverage in place or added new long positions. Price moves that pushed Bitcoin down to about $73,000 produced liquidations within the asset’s typical intraday range.
Retail accounts accounted for a notable share of long exposure. Hyblock’s True Retail Longs & Shorts Accounts indicator shows long exposure near 62 percent. Hyblock’s backtested 15-minute data over the past three months found that when retail long positioning exceeded 62 percent, Bitcoin posted positive returns 82 percent of the time seven days later, with a median forward return of 3.6 percent across 1,459 occurrences. “Long exposure now sits near 62%, a level where retail traders have historically been vulnerable to getting trapped,” Hyblock wrote.
Institutional signals shifted amid macro events. Bitfinex analysts highlighted caution ahead of the May 29 Personal Consumption Expenditures report for April and noted that since May 15 futures open interest has fallen sharply after a price correction that erased more than 10 percent from recent highs above $82,000. Aggregated global futures open interest fell below $55 billion, a low not seen since April 11 and about 14 percent lower than readings when Bitcoin traded above $80,000.
ETF flows weakened this week. Wednesday outflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs topped $200 million and cumulative outflows over the past seven days exceeded $1.5 billion. Bitfinex identified the negative Coinbase premium as an additional sign of shifting demand, writing that direct US spot demand on Coinbase has been largely displaced by indirect institutional demand via ETFs, structured products and over-the-counter desks.
On-chain and market data show higher funding rates and steady open interest alongside significant ETF outflows and a negative Coinbase premium.
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