In the past week, Bitcoin climbed nearly 10%, reclaiming the $73,000 area for the first time since mid-March and presenting a mildly bullish tone for many investors. Despite the price advance, derivatives traders appear unconvinced, with short positions rising during the same period.
Bitcoin Open Interest Jumps $350M, But Volume Lags
Market analyst Amr Taha notes the price gain coincided with increased leverage across major exchanges, signaling more futures activity. However, on-chain data points to a dominance of bearish positioning in new market flows.
CryptoQuant’s BTC: Open Interest Change By Exchange 7D chart shows Binance added $350 million in open interest on April 9, its highest level since March 20. Bybit added about $299 million, and OKX recorded roughly $200 million in new contracts.
Despite these gains in open interest, the BTC: Binance Cumulative Net Taker Volume/OI (24H) chart indicates net taker volume on Binance did not rise proportionally. Net taker volume measures the balance between aggressive buying and selling in futures; higher positive values reflect aggressive buying. Taha’s observations suggest aggressive buying made up only a small portion of the April 9 open interest increase.
This implies many traders placed bearish bets or used passive limit orders rather than aggressive market buys. The futures market’s lack of bullish conviction means the rally’s durability increasingly depends on genuine spot demand rather than leveraged derivative positions.
Bitcoin Price Overview
At the time of writing, Bitcoin traded around $72,837, up about 0.34% over 24 hours, while daily trading volume rose roughly 3.85%. Despite the weekly rally, Bitcoin remains deep in a bear market, about 42.08% below the cycle high of $126,200 recorded in October, 2025.
Featured image and chart sources: CryptoQuant, TradingView.