What Bitcoin Funding Rates Are Doing to the Market

On April 23, Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated below $40,000 as market expectations favored further losses.

Following a bearish BTC/USD after the pair touched $39,200 on Friday’s Wall Street open, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed.

Falling in line with stocks, Bitcoin now faced the prospect of resistance settling in at the $40,000 level, with traders expressing skepticism about a short-term rebound.

According to data from the on-chain analytics site Coinglass, funding rates across derivatives exchanges remained firmly negative into the weekend, implying that the majority of market participants expected shorting to be a profitable next trade.

The ratio of long to short positions was a further source of concern for analyst Filbfilb, co-founder of trading suite Decentrader.

Bitcoin has returned to this critical level. Losing this -> $36K appears to be the next step, according to a new Twitter update from Cointelegraph contributor Michael van de Poppe on the day.

BTC/USD was trading around $39,800 at the time of writing, avoiding a trip to take buy liquidity below $38,000 thus far.

Traders’ trepidation was mirrored in sentiment gauges, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index returning to the “extreme fear” zone on Saturday.

Despite their lack of confidence, not everyone was willing to give up on Bitcoin in the long run.

“Get ready for the next runup. Historically, this has been one of the best price ranges for purchasing Bitcoin!” Crypto Rover, a popular YouTuber, argued alongside a chart comparing Bitcoin price performance to the strength of the US dollar.

The US dollar currency index (DXY), as reported by Cointelegraph, is currently near two-year highs, and a reversal has historically provided Bitcoin with the fuel to break long-term downtrends.

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