Most of these could be short positions, according to data tracked by Laevitas shows the funding rate – the cost of holding long/short perpetual futures positions – has been consistently neutral-to-negative in recent weeks. A negative funding rate means shorts are paying longs to keep the bearish position open. In other words, the market is skewed bearish. That’s also evident from the depressed futures premium, also known as the basis, on major exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a proxy for institutional activity. The three-month premium recently slipped to 1.1% annualized on the CME and 2% on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by open interest and volumes.
