Leverage in the Bitcoin futures market has decreased significantly. According to CryptoQuant data, the open position size decreased from a peak of approximately $45 billion in July 2025 to $20.4 billion. This picture pointed to a gradual unwinding of leveraged transactions rather than a sudden collapse in the market.
The decrease in open positions attracted attention
Open position size shows the total nominal value of futures contracts that have not yet been closed. The decline in this indicator reveals that investors closed positions or were liquidated. Latest data showed that more than 45 percent of the peak leverage level in the market has been cleared.
Mini dictionary: Open position refers to the total size of contracts that have not yet been closed in the futures market. CryptoQuant is an analysis platform that offers on-chain and derivative market data.
The data revealed that the decline in open positions occurred at a similar pace to the correction in Bitcoin price. This suggests that overleveraged transactions are gradually decreasing without shaking the market sharply.
CryptoQuant data shows that Bitcoin price and open interest size have declined at similar speeds over the same period, and the unraveling has progressed as a gradual deleveraging rather than a disorderly selling wave.
Purges took effect throughout the year
A series of liquidations over the past year has accelerated the unraveling of the futures market. One of the biggest breaks was seen on October 10. While Bitcoin fell from its all-time high of approximately $122,574 to around $105,000, single-day liquidations also reached a record level.
The process continued at the beginning of February. The open interest size dropped by more than 20 percent in a few days as the Bitcoin price fell to around $61,000. With the additional liquidations seen throughout June, the total open position was reduced to 20.4 billion dollars.
| Period | Bitcoin price | open position |
|---|---|---|
| July 2025 peak | Period around $122,574 | Approximately 45 billion dollars |
| early february | Approximately $61,000 | More than 20 percent drop in a few days |
| end of june | $59,227 | $20.4 billion |
There is no clear signal pointing to a bottom
Despite the sharp drop in leverage, the data does not show that Bitcoin has definitively reached the market bottom. It is known that in the past, long horizontal movements or additional price decreases may have been observed after open positions decreased.
The current level of open interest is still above the lows of around $10 billion seen in 2023; This indicates that additional deleveraging may still be possible relative to historical comparisons.
In addition, the current open position level is still above the period when it decreased to approximately $10 billion in 2023. This comparison suggests that there may be additional disintegration space remaining on a historical scale.
The price remained below 60 thousand dollars
The weekly Bitcoin chart showed that the price was hovering below $60,000. The market remained below the $68,000 to $70,000 range, which was previously viewed as both support and resistance areas.
According to the latest data, Bitcoin changed hands at $ 59,227. During the same period, volume delta remained in the negative region, indicating that selling pressure continued.
