Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"

Bitcoin exchanges are undergoing a critical "deleveraging event" that will impact future price movements, recent research indicates. In a "Quicktake" blog post on March 17, on-chain analysis platform CryptoQuant revealed a $10 billion sell-off in the Bitcoin futures market.

Since Bitcoin (BTC/USD) reached its current all-time high in mid-January, Bitcoin derivatives traders have fully shifted to a risk-averse mode.

CryptoQuant aggregated data from several major cryptocurrency exchanges, calculating that the total open interest in the futures market shrank by $10 billion in just three weeks from February 20 to March 4.

"On January 17, the total open interest in Bitcoin reached an all-time high of over $33 billion, indicating that market leverage levels were unprecedentedly high," wrote contributor Darkfost.

He believes this decline "can be seen as a natural reset of the market, a necessary phase for sustaining the bull market."

Data on Bitcoin futures open interest from major exchanges. Source: CryptoQuant

An accompanying chart shows the 90-day rolling change in Bitcoin futures open interest, highlighting the sharp reversal in the market after reaching a historical peak.

Darkfost concluded, "Currently, the 90-day change in Bitcoin futures open interest has significantly decreased, now at -14%. Historically, each time a similar deleveraging occurred, it provided good opportunities for the medium to short term."

Subsequently, another CryptoQuant contributor, Kriptolik, pointed out that overall activity in the derivatives market has been steadily increasing since November 2024.

He revealed this week that the stablecoin reserves at derivatives exchanges are increasing, even surpassing those in the spot market. However, this does not necessarily drive prices up.

Another blog post explained, "When we analyze the trading volume and circulation of stablecoins, which serve as market fuel, we find that although the total supply of stablecoins has rapidly increased since November 2024, this does not necessarily benefit the market or investors significantly."

Kriptolik described the spot market as experiencing a "demand crisis."

He added, "Before this distribution normalizes, avoiding high leverage (high-risk) trading may be the most prudent approach."

Exchange stablecoin reserves (screenshot). Source: CryptoQuant

Related: Bitfinex states that Bitcoin prices have corrected by 30% as sell-off pressure increases.

This article does not contain investment opinions or advice. Every investment and trading activity involves risks, and readers should conduct their own research before making decisions.

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