Open interest (OI) in bitcoin (BTC) futures fell sharply following the correction on Friday, October 10. The figure fell from $47 billion to $35 billion, bringing the metric to levels last seen in July 2025.
This reductionof USD 12,000 million, represents one of the largest adjustments in leveraged positions in recent years and reflects a partial normalization of market sentiment.
The following CryptoQuant graph shows the drop in bitcoin open interest better:
The OI is a metric that measures the total number of active long (bullish) or short (bearish) positions in a specific contract. For bitcoin, the collapse of open interest means that the derivatives market has become “de-leveraged.” That is to say, many speculative positions have been closed after the price drop. This reduces the pressure of forced liquidations and cleans up excess risk.
According to the analyst known as EgyHash, this is nothing more than “partial normalization of market sentiment”, opening the possibility of a more stable recoverydriven by real purchases in the spot market rather than leveraged bets.
During the October 10 crash, reported by CriptoNoticias, funding rates also declined and briefly turned negative, although they later recovered to slightly positive levels, suggesting that extreme selling pressure dissipated. In parallel, the Estimated Leverage Ratio (ELR) also fell, showing that traders reduced their exposure in derivatives.
CryptoQuant Community Analyst, aka Darkfost, explains that the intensity of the movement on Friday could have a positive impact in the medium termhaving eliminated “large amounts of futures positions and margin loans.”
According to Darkfost, this change could “favor more organic growth” and less dependent on leverage in the coming weeks.