The resurgence of leveraged trading among investors poses the threat of new liquidation waves in the Bitcoin market, as highlighted by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, who analyzed the open interest trends on Binance.
🗞️ Bitcoin experienced its sharpest deleveraging since 2023
After a cycle largely dominated by futures volumes, Bitcoin has just gone through its sharpest deleveraging phase since 2023.
This showed up as a marked decline in Binance's Open Interest, which dropped below its… pic.twitter.com/KtSU6C6nWS
— Darkfost (@Darkfost_Coc) September 7, 2026
Traders Return to Futures Market
During the recent correction, Bitcoin's market experienced its most significant reduction in leverage since 2023, according to Darkfost. The open interest on Binance fell below its 180-day average, reflecting the strength and speed of the market movement.
The analyst described the closure of excessively large positions as a necessary correction phase. Nevertheless, the open interest on the exchange remains elevated at $9.6 billion, compared to a 180-day average of $8.3 billion, representing about 37% of the total for the leading cryptocurrency.
Darkfost linked the return of traders to the support of the current rebound but cautioned about the flip side of this trend: a market with excessive leverage is bound to trigger new waves of forced liquidations eventually.
Retail Investors Selling Amid Price Increase
The recent rise in Bitcoin's price has been largely driven by futures trading; however, the buying activity in this sector has started to wane, noted CryptoQuant contributor CW8900. At the same time, the spot demand metric has dipped into negative territory.
The negative value of Bitcoin spot demand is the effect of selling by retail investors.
“They are continuing to sell despite the rising price of bitcoin. They have acclimated to the decline and are selling during these uptrends.” – By @CW8900
Link ⤵️… pic.twitter.com/DNNaMscpIl
— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) September 7, 2026
The contributor attributed this behavior to retail investors reducing their holdings even as prices recover. The analyst speculated that after a prolonged decline, these investors have adjusted their strategies and are utilizing the rebound to sell their coins.
Conversely, larger holders continue to accumulate Bitcoin, with CW8900 identifying their purchases as a positive factor amid the overall weakness in the spot market.
The analyst warned that if this trend persists, it could disrupt the upward momentum. In his view, a sustainable rally is unlikely without a strengthening in spot demand.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading around $79,300, having dropped 0.1% in the last 24 hours.
Hourly chart of BTC/USDT on Binance. Source: TradingView.It is worth noting that during the night of September 3-4, the leading cryptocurrency tested the $82,000 mark. In one day, the total liquidation volume in the crypto market reached $536 million, with $457 million attributed to short positions.