The Arcane Research report says this downward trading indicates institutional investors are being “cautious” at the moment.

The total open interest in the bitcoin futures market is sitting at $11.3 billion, down 59% from its April 13 peak of $27.3 billion according to Arcane Research. 

The report said the downward trading indicates that institutional investors are being “cautious” at the moment. It also notes that three-month futures in bitcoin are in backwardation, meaning they are traded at a discount to current spot prices. That is generally perceived to be a bearish signal. 

Open interest on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) as a share of total bitcoin futures was climbing at the end of May, but is now trading downward. The CME’s open interest is currently sitting at 12.2% of the bitcoin futures market, according to the report. That puts it in fourth place, behind retail platforms Binance (22.5% of total open interest), OKEx (14%) and Bybit (12.9%).