Large cryptocurrency speculators edged their bearish net positions slightly higher in the Bitcoin Futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of Bitcoin futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -1,635 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday May 8th. This was a weekly decline of -38 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -1,597 net contracts.
Small traders, meanwhile, raised their existing bullish positions this week by an equally offsetting 38 contracts to the current level of 1,635 net contracts.
The large speculator position had seen its bearish position decrease in the previous two weeks before this week’s small rise. Overall, the trader positions in this crypto market have stayed rather subdued and have not seen any major swings since the start of futures trading. The open interest level remains small around the 5,000-6,000 contract threshold.
Bitcoin Futures COT Data: Speculators vs Small Traders
The Bitcoin futures data is in its twenty-first week since the start of the cryptocurrency futures data on December 19th. The data includes trader classifications of only speculators and small traders and without commercial traders (typically business hedgers or producers of a commodity).
Speculators continue to be bearish as they have since the beginning of the bitcoin data releases while the small traders remain on the bullish side of this market.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Futures closed at approximately $9182.74 which was a gain of $108.33 from the previous close of $9074.41, according to unofficial market data.