Ether Open Interest Falls 2.80% to $5.53 Billion in Oct. 22 Snapshot

Key Facts

A derivatives market snapshot on Oct. 22 showed Ether open interest falling 2.80% over 24 hours to $5.53 billion, according to a TokenPost report. XRP posted a slightly larger decline of 2.92%, taking open interest to $422.2 million. Solana open interest fell 2.67% to $885 million. These figures reflect the dollar value of outstanding derivatives contracts, as defined by TokenPost. The indicator’s decline alone does not show whether traders closed positions or liquidations occurred.

The decline extended to Dogecoin, but at a slower pace: its open interest fell 1.24% to $221.6 million in the Oct. 22 snapshot. Across the five currencies covered by account-distribution data, the share of long accounts exceeded that of short accounts. The long-account share ranged from 64.5% for Bitcoin to 75.8% for Ether. This distribution provides a picture of account positioning in that snapshot, alongside a measure of outstanding contract volumes. But it does not change the fact that the open-interest figures here are dollar values, and do not on their own establish position direction or the occurrence of liquidation.

Coinbase’s monthly data put this snapshot in the context of slower growth in some derivatives positions in September. Perpetual swap open interest rose 4% that month, compared with 15% growth in August. Futures open interest also increased 12% in September, after rising 18% in August. By contrast, options open interest fell 4% in September. The comparison shows slower growth in swaps and futures, alongside a decline in options open interest, according to Coinbase Institutional Research’s October report.

In spot market flows, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded inflows of $442.7 million in the week ended Oct. 22, according to SoSoValue data cited by an Investing.com report attributed to Reuters. The report described it as the strongest week for inflows since late September. The inflows followed two weeks of net outflows. In a broader context, Coinbase reported that comparable U.S. funds attracted about $2.6 billion during September. Inflows reached nearly $2.7 billion in the week that began on Sept. 21, according to the same report.

In Oct. 22 trading, Bitcoin was steady at $82,785.8 by 02:13 Eastern Time, after climbing overnight to nearly $85,000, according to an Investing.com report attributed to Reuters. The gains then faded as risk aversion intensified, the report said. The following day, the price rose 0.3% to $81,970 at 13:49 GMT. Bitcoin remained within an $80,000 to $87,000 trading range over the previous month, according to the report. This price movement provides a separate time context from the open-interest snapshot, which alone is not enough to establish that the price change caused a change in contract value.

The market report linked pressure on risky assets to a sell-off in technology stocks and concerns about interest rates and the sustainability of spending on artificial intelligence, saying risk aversion had spread to cryptocurrencies. It also said expectations for results from major technology companies and meetings of major central banks the following week had heightened caution. Oil prices remained among the factors weighing on risk appetite, according to the market report. By contrast, spot Bitcoin fund flows for the week ended Oct. 22 were positive, at $442.7 million. Meetings of major central banks were scheduled for the following week, the report said, without specifying the decisions or their subsequent effect on trading.