Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Declines Slightly to $7.68 Billion
Bitcoin's derivatives market shows reduced leverage with positive funding rates persisting.
Bitcoin's derivatives market shows reduced leverage with positive funding rates persisting. Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at ₹77,85,747 ($81,890.00), down 0.1% since this brief published. This is an original Token Times brief based on reporting by NewsBTC, with live market data added, as of Sun, 18 Oct 2026 13:00:01 UTC.
The decline in open interest suggests traders are reducing leverage, while positive funding indicates continued demand for long exposure, reflecting a nuanced market sentiment.
- Bitcoin futures open interest fell 0.69% to $7.68 billion in 24 hours.
- Funding rate remained positive at 0.0035% per eight-hour interval.
- Market shows mixed signals with reduced leverage but ongoing long interest.
A Saturday derivatives market snapshot revealed that 
Bitcoin futures open interest decreased by 0.69% over 24 hours, settling at $7.68 billion. This decline suggests that traders are reducing their leveraged positions, though the market is not signaling an outright bearish stance.
Despite the drop in open interest, the funding rate remained positive at 0.0035% per eight-hour interval. This indicates that traders with long positions are still willing to pay a premium to maintain their exposure, reflecting ongoing demand for Bitcoin.
The data does not conclusively show that traders have finished reducing their leverage, but the positive funding rate suggests that the market is not strongly leaning towards bearish positioning.
In the broader market context, Bitcoin's price increased by 0.62% over the past 24 hours, reaching $81,985, while the total crypto market cap remained relatively flat at $2.81 trillion. The Fear & Greed Index stood at 53, indicating a neutral market sentiment.
The slight decline in open interest coupled with positive funding rates suggests a market that is cautiously optimistic. Traders may be adjusting their positions ahead of potential market movements, but the overall sentiment remains balanced.
Since this brief published about 1 hour ago, Bitcoin (BTC) has moved from ₹77,94,779.38$81,985.00 to ₹77,85,747.19$81,890.00 — -0.12%.
The chart plots BTC's price: grey is the move before this brief published, the vertical dashed line marks the moment it published, the horizontal dashed line is the price then, and the coloured area is the move since — from Token Times's market data (daily resolution). It shows what happened after the news, not that the news caused it; many factors move prices. Not financial advice.
Will Bitcoin reach $84,000 October 12-18?
Crowd-implied probability on Polymarket, ₹7.18M 24h volume, resolves Oct 19 — snapshotted when this brief published (Oct 18 12:05 UTC). A market price reflects what traders collectively expect; it is not a forecast by Token Times and will have moved since. View the market ↗
At today's peer-to-peer rate, 1 BTC ≈ ₹8.65M (about $81,890.00), up 0.6% over 24 hours. The rupee itself trades about 11.1% above the official rate on the P2P market, so a Indian buyer's effective cost differs from the headline dollar price.
Live market data
Current prices for the asset in this story — live, source-stamped, updated every 15 minutes.
Figures and sectors in this story, checked live against on-chain aggregators · October 18, 2026.
Token Times reads these figures directly from on-chain aggregators (DeFiLlama, mempool.space) at build time — independent of what any outlet reported. Sector totals aggregate every protocol DeFiLlama tracks in that category. Values are live and will change.
Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Declines Slightly to $7.68 Bil — questions & answers
What does the decline in open interest indicate?
The decline in open interest suggests traders are reducing their leveraged positions in the Bitcoin derivatives market.
Why is the positive funding rate significant?
The positive funding rate indicates that traders with long positions are willing to pay a premium to maintain their exposure, showing ongoing demand for Bitcoin.
How does this affect the broader market sentiment?
The data suggests a market that is cautiously optimistic, with traders adjusting positions but not strongly leaning towards bearish sentiment.
How much is 1 Bitcoin worth in rupee today?
About ₹8.65M at the live peer-to-peer (P2P) USDT rate, which is what Indians typically trade at — equivalent to roughly $81,890.00. The rupee price moves with both BTC's US-dollar price and the USDT/INR rate; use our Bitcoin in rupee page for any amount.
Has Bitcoin's price moved since this brief was published?
BTC is down 0.12% since this brief first published — trading at ₹77,85,747 ($81,890.00) now versus ₹77,94,779 ($81,985.00) at publication. Token Times re-checks this figure against CoinGecko and Binance every 15 minutes.
Which outlets reported this story?
This is an original Token Times brief that synthesises reporting from NewsBTC. It is not a copy of any one article — follow the source links above for the original reporting.
Original summary — not financial advice. This is an original Token Times brief that summarises a development reported elsewhere and adds live market data for context; it is not the original article and reproduces no part of it. Follow the source link above for full details. Crypto is volatile and high-risk — always do your own research.