Bitcoin is looking to regain $64,000 on a possible short squeeze after earlier drops to as low as $63,000 following US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
At the same time, perpetual futures funding rates fell to -6% according to CoinGlass, marking the second lowest level in the past three months. The last time funding was this negative was on February 6, when bitcoin bottomed near $60,000.
Perpetual funding rates represent the periodic payments exchanged between traders in perpetual futures markets. When rates are positive, traders with long positions pay off those with shorts. When rates turn negative, shorts pay longs.
Deeply negative funding typically signals aggressive short positioning and bearish sentiment, as traders are willing to pay a premium to maintain downside bets.
Meanwhile, coin margin open interest increased from 668,000 BTC to 687,000 BTC over the past 24 hours.
Measuring open interest in BTC terms removes distortion caused by price fluctuations. Rising open interest alongside negative funding suggests rising participation, with an increasing proportion of traders positioned for further downside.
In the last 24 hours, more than $500 million in crypto positions have been liquidated, according to CoinGlass data. The bulk of these liquidations were long positions, which accounted for over $420 million, highlighting the extent of forced selling as prices moved lower.
