Home›Crypto›Market Structure›CME and Coinbase Bitcoin derivatives gap raises unwind…

CME and Coinbase Bitcoin derivatives gap raises unwind risk

CFTC positioning data show leveraged funds net short about 40,570 BTC-equivalent on CME versus a roughly 151 BTC net long in Coinbase's nano perpetual-style contract.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Market Structure

CryptoSlate reports that CFTC snapshot data for Aug. 25 show leveraged funds held a large net short position across CME Bitcoin futures, totaling about 41,252 BTC-equivalent, while Coinbase showed a much smaller net long of roughly 151 BTC-equivalent in its nano perpetual-style contract.

The outlet says the scale of open interest also differs sharply. Across the two CME products, open interest was reported at 118,267 BTC-equivalent, versus 2,322 BTC on Coinbase, implying CME is about 51 times larger by open-interest measure and that the leveraged-fund net short is roughly 272 times the magnitude of Coinbase's net long.

CryptoSlate notes that the CME net short position also became more bearish during the week. From Aug. 18 to Aug. 25, the standard-contract net moved about 3,295 BTC further short and the micro net moved about 777 BTC further short, for a combined change of about 4,072 BTC.

The report cautions that the CFTC category notes do not directly link futures accounts to spot Bitcoin, ETF holdings, or cross-venue hedges, so it cannot confirm whether the CME shorts are directional or basis trades. Even so, the small Coinbase net-long figure alone is not presented as sufficient to offset the larger CME position in any forced unwind scenario.

Latest closeBitcoin $78,863.32 ▲1.5%

More like this

Sources