Bitcoin (BTC) futures positioning in the latest U.S. report split between leveraged funds and asset managers, while Coinbase’s price stayed below Binance’s, leaving market indicators with different signals.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) report showing positions as of Oct. 13 listed 11,364 short contracts and 5,520 long contracts for leveraged funds in CME Bitcoin futures. The group’s net position was short 5,844 contracts. The asset manager/institutional category reported 5,079 long contracts and 1,437 short contracts, making it net long by 3,642.
The categories therefore showed opposite net positions. The figures are weekly snapshots and do not explain why traders held the contracts. CFTC staff say they do not know traders’ specific reasons. The CFTC releases its reports on Fridays; the Oct. 13 date refers to when the positions were recorded, not when the report was published.
CryptoQuant’s Coinbase Premium Index stood at -0.1259% on Oct. 17. CryptoQuant calculates the index by comparing Bitcoin’s BTC/USD price on Coinbase with its BTC/USDT price on Binance. A negative value means Bitcoin was priced lower on Coinbase. The index was also negative on each of the four previous days: -0.0806% on Oct. 13, -0.1417% on Oct. 14, -0.1392% on Oct. 15 and -0.1416% on Oct. 16. The Oct. 17 discount was narrower than the previous day’s reading.
CryptoQuant data also showed Coinbase Prime trading volume at 5,159.84 BTC on Oct. 16, down 27.3% from 7,097.03 BTC a day earlier. The venue’s 24-hour dollar volume was about $386.23 million. Volume records how much Bitcoin was traded, but does not by itself show whether clients were buying or selling.
The CFTC’s next weekly positioning report is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
