• Rising open interest in Bitcoin futures suggests growing confidence and potential for continued upward momentum.
  • Whale accumulation and stable funding rates indicate strong long-term market positioning for Bitcoin.

In recent weeks, Bitcoin has shown signs of a stronger recovery. But it’s not just the price that’s intriguing. On-chain analyst Avocado_onchain has observed a sharp spike in open interest in the futures market—and according to him, it’s not just a number.

The chart he shows shows a pattern similar to previous bull runs, where open interest that breaks through a previous peak is often followed by a price spike. While it hasn’t yet crossed that threshold, its steep slope suggests that it could come sooner than expected.

Imagine a long line in front of a store. A store is more likely to be having a large sale the longer and rapidly the line builds. Open interest, then, is like a line in the futures market. A busy market with a consistent financing rate may indicate that the market is getting ready for a rally rather than pandemonium.

Bitcoin Open Interest Surge Hints at Bullish Momentum Ahead image 0 Bitcoin Open Interest Surge Hints at Bullish Momentum Ahead image 1 Source: CryptoQuant

Bitcoin Accumulation Surges Despite Market Uncertainty

On the other hand, data from CNF previously reported that Bitcoin’s MVRV ratio jumped 21.84% in just 21 days. This means that more and more investors—especially those who have been holding BTC for a long time—are starting to see unrealized profits. This is usually the trigger for a change in market sentiment.

Interestingly, institutions and whales are not sitting idle. They are actually continuing to accumulate large amounts of BTC, even though the global market has not yet fully stabilized.

Furthermore, on May 2, 2025, data from Glassnode revealed an extraordinary surge in demand from whales. In one day, there was an inflow of 12,500 BTC to whale wallets—meaning to wallets with more than 1,000 BTC. At the same time, the price of Bitcoin rose from $58,200 to $62,400, or an increase of around 7.2%.

Trading volumes on Binance and Coinbase also soared, indicating that not only large investors are involved, but market participation in general has also increased sharply.

Not only that, in the last two weeks until May 1, 2025, whale accumulation has reached more than 43,100 BTC—worth almost $4 billion. Interestingly, most of this accumulation was done secretly. They are moving BTC from exchanges to personal wallets, indicating an intention to hold for the long term. Just think, who would bother withdrawing money from an ATM if they didn’t intend to save it?

Still from Glassnode, the number of wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC also increased to 2,014 as of April 15. Up from 1,944 on March 5. This is the highest number since April 2024, and reflects the growing institutional confidence in Bitcoin as a long-term asset—not just momentary speculation.

Interestingly, even though open interest has increased sharply, funding rates on various exchanges remain relatively neutral. Even on Binance, short positions still dominate slightly.

Meanwhile, as of press time, BTC is trading at about $96,386.11, up 1.78% over the last 7 days. Its daily transaction volume is also quite large, reaching $24.14 billion.

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