With the price of Bitcoin recently falling below $100,000, prices across the cryptocurrency market plummeted, and other key indicators followed suit. One notable indicator that has seen a noticeable decline is cryptocurrency market open interest. Total open interest declined sharply in September and has continued to decline since then. As a result, cryptocurrency market open interest has now fallen to levels not seen in five months.
Cryptocurrency Open Interest Dumps Below $140 Billion
According to data from the Coinglass website, cryptocurrency market open interest has declined significantly after hitting an all-time high in early October. The peak of $233 billion was recorded on October 7, at the same time that the price of Bitcoin also hit a high above $126,000. However, the momentum did not continue after that, and as the price of Bitcoin plummeted, the open interest in the cryptocurrency was also hit.
Earlier this week, open interest fell below $140 billion for the first time in five months, a drop of more than 40% in one month. The market suffered its first major decline since the infamous collapse of the cryptocurrency market in a matter of hours. By October 12, just five days after hitting an all-time high, open interest had plummeted more than 25% to $150 billion.
The current decline is evidence of reduced investor participation across markets as cryptocurrency traders took a more conservative stance during the month of November. Not only has cryptocurrency open interest been severely affected, but daily trading volume has also taken a hit.
As with open interest, daily cryptocurrency trading volume has plummeted by double digits, from nearly $400 billion in early October to less than $260 billion at the time of this report. This represents a collapse of approximately 35% and shows striking similarities to open interest.
What happened to Bitcoin last time?
While a sharp decline in cryptocurrency open interest may be cause for alarm, it is interesting to note what happened to Bitcoin the last time this metric was this low. Looking back to June 2025, when cryptocurrency open interest was last below $140 billion, prices essentially bottomed out before bouncing back.
The rebound after the June bottom saw the price of Bitcoin rise from around $100,000 to $126,000 over the next few months, an increase of 26%. If this trend continues and cryptocurrency market open interest bottoms out below $140 billion, Bitcoin price could be ready for another rally.
Featured image by Dall.E, chart by TradingView.com
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