CME Group · Bitcoin · U.S. Treasury · CoinDesk
A rare CME shift: Hedge funds abandon structural shorts to bet on a bitcoin rally
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Hedge funds trading bitcoin BTC $ 64,978.27 futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have turned net long, according to Ki Young Ju, CEO of blockchain data analytics firm CryptoQuant.
Key facts
- Bitcoin is now trading above $65,000 after bottoming around $58,000 on July 1
- Hedge funds trading bitcoin BTC $ 64,978.27 futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have turned net long, according to Ki Young Ju, CEO of blockchain data analytics firm CryptoQuant
- The annualized three-month bitcoin futures basis has fallen to approximately 3%, below the roughly 3.8% yield available on two-year U.S. Treasury notes
- The suits are now betting on bitcoin’s upside,” Ki Young Ju said
Summary
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju says leveraged funds are now net long CME bitcoin futures, a rare shift after years of structural short positioning. Leveraged funds have historically remained net short CME Bitcoin futures because of the basis trade of buying spot bitcoin or ETFswhile simultaneously selling futures. With the futures basis yielding less than U.S. Treasuries, basis trades are unwinding as bitcoin rebounds from $58,000 to around $65,000. The rare positioning shift suggests professional traders are increasingly betting on bitcoin prices rising.