As of April 21, open interest (OI) in perpetual bitcoin contracts surged by 17.4%. This data was provided by the CryptoQuant analyst known as Darkfost.
Comparable increases of 16% and 15% were observed during the strong bullish phase in November-December 2024. At that time, derivatives activity bolstered the positive trend in the spot market, the specialist noted.
During the mentioned period, such changes in OI led to price increases of 10% and 7%, respectively. This time, the reaction was more restrained — the price increase was limited to 4.2%.
CryptoQuant concluded that there is a “fairly strong” supply overhang.
Earlier, analysts noted an increase in realized capitalization to a new record, indicating strong expectations of a short-term price rise.
According to Glassnode, over the past 26 hours, OI in bitcoin futures rose by $2.4 billion to $38.6 billion, the highest since March. Trading volume of the leading cryptocurrency on spot exchanges tripled — from $2.9 billion to $8 billion.
In the same time, $BTC Spot Volume surged from $2.9B to $8.0B, nearly tripling in less than 36 hours. This shows a simultaneous influx of capital into the spot market alongside the OI spike. pic.twitter.com/ZOskHNLtii
— glassnode (@glassnode) April 22, 2025
By June, the market is expected to reach a local bottom, with the future direction set by the outcomes of negotiations between the US and major trading partners regarding tariffs, according to Nansen.
Coinbase previously recommended maintaining a “constructive attitude” towards bitcoin’s prospects in the second half of 2025.