Updated Sep 28, 2026, 11:08 a.m. EDT Published Sep 28, 2026, 5:29 a.m. EDT
2 min read
Summary
- Bitcoin changes hands near $82,800, declining over 2% within 24 hours.
- Perpetual funding has turned negative and open interest has dropped to 652,000 BTC, indicating participants are unwinding exposure as sentiment softens.
- Gold has slipped toward $4,150 per ounce, whereas the dollar index sits above 101.
Money is exiting the bitcoin BTC$84,632.43 derivatives ecosystem, and the traders remaining are willing to incur costs to maintain short positions.
Such dynamics are signaled by primary indicators including open interest and annualized perpetual funding rates.
Open interest, which represents the aggregate volume of active derivatives bets, rested at 652,000 BTC at the time of publication, marking one of its minimum points for the year. This metric reached a maximum of 800,000 earlier this year, according to metrics provider Coinglass.
The contraction highlights a withdrawal of capital, characterized by speculators steering clear of leveraged trades despite a 40% gain in bitcoin’s valuation during the third quarter.
Additionally, perpetual funding rates have swung back into negative territory, averaging roughly minus 0.3% across major trading platforms. While every long position has a matching short, both sides do not approach the trade with equal enthusiasm, and funding rates clarify this imbalance. A negative percentage indicates that short sellers are aggressively pursuing the trade and are prepared to pay a fee to bulls in order to sustain their bearish bets.
In summary, the most recent negative rate points to an underlying bearish outlook.
This development follows a 2% pullback in bitcoin to $82,800 occurring 24 hours after President Donald Trump refrained from dismissing potential additional military actions against Iran ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Nevertheless, bitcoin remains more than $20,000 above its summer cycle bottom and stands as the top-performing asset for the third quarter.
Gold under pressure as dollar rises
Bitcoin is not the sole asset experiencing losses.
Gold has also retreated by 3% over the past day, trading close to $4,150 per ounce. The bitcoin-to-gold ratio, tracking how many ounces of gold a single bitcoin purchases, approaches 20 and stands on the verge of turning positive for the year.
Meanwhile, the DXY index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of principal currencies, has advanced past 101 alongside ongoing increases in U.S. Treasury yields. The 10-year yield exceeds 5.2%, and the 30-year yield climbs above 5.51%.
A resilient domestic economy may be bolstering both the dollar and yields, though persistent inflation worries might also be forcing borrowing expenses higher. Elevated yields equate to depressed bond valuations: TLT, an exchange-traded fund holding long-term U.S. Treasuries, has drifted down to approximately $79, hitting an all-time low.
Rising yields similarly enhance the appeal of income-generating instruments compared to bitcoin and gold, neither of which produces any yield.
Originally published at https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/28/bitcoin-bears-pay-to-bet-on-further-declines-as-futures-positions-near-yearly-lows.
