Leveraged funds’ net short in Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin (BTC) futures stood at 30,611 BTC equivalent on Oct. 13, down 14.7% from the prior week, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data showed.
Outright positions totaled 59,458 BTC equivalent on the short side and 28,847 on the long side, leaving a net short of 30,611. Over the week, short exposure contracted by 6,437 BTC equivalent, while the long tally fell by 1,145.
The figures combine standard and micro contracts after conversion to BTC equivalents. Each standard CME futures contract covers 5 BTC; each micro contract covers 0.1 BTC. The latest tally includes micro contracts absent from EconoTimes’ earlier review of standard-contract positions.
The CFTC’s separate “spreading” column tracks paired futures exposure. On Oct. 13, it showed 8,434 BTC equivalent for each leg, up 2,719 from the previous week, or 47.6%. Those positions are recorded apart from outright longs and shorts.
Adding outright longs to the long legs of spreading trades yields a weekly increase of about 1,574 BTC equivalent. That combined figure does not establish a larger standalone bet on Bitcoin rising. The futures report also cannot show whether the funds bought Bitcoin in spot markets.
In a separate category, asset manager/institutional traders increased their net long by 547 BTC equivalent to about 18,440. Bitcoin closed at $83,115 on Oct. 13, down 2.8% from its $85,540 UTC daily close on Oct. 6. Open interest, or outstanding contracts, also decreased 3.2% across CME’s standard and micro products.
The positions are a weekly snapshot as of Oct. 13. The next CFTC report is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23, at 3:30 p.m. ET (19:30 UTC), with positions expected as of Oct. 20.
