- BTC OI exploded to $80B, but late longs may be liquidated for the price to trend higher.
- There was relatively low selling pressure compared to the previous ATH in late 2024.
Bitcoin [BTC] speculative activity expanded, with Open Interest (OI) hitting a record high of $80 billion on the 22nd of May.
This was $10B more than the OI peak in late 2024. But unlike the last local peak, there was no excessive market froth just yet.
But despite the record OI spike, BTC price briefly slipped below $111K on Thursday, sparking concerns of likely cool-off or upside volatility.
Market expects an extra run
From a liquidation heatmap, there may a risk of brief cool-off.
According to the liquidation map platform Kingfisher, there was a concentrated leveraged bull at the $108K-$109K and down to $104K area, compared to shorts positions above $111K.
Source: Kingfisher/X
In case of a liquidity-driven flush out, the above set-up suggested a slight dip couldn’t be overruled. Soon enough, BTC tagged the $108K at the time of writing.
Even so, any brief dip may be a springboard for a further rally, based on muted readings from key overheated market indicators.
Notably, Switzerland-based trading firm Swissblock stated the current realized profit (about $3B) was way lower compared to the last December peak ($10B). The firm stated,
“Bitcoin just hit a new ATH, and selling pressure is nowhere to be found. No big profit-taking, no panic. Bitcoin may have more room to run.”
A similar healthy market picture was painted by Alphractal’s João Wedson, based on trading volume by Bitcoin funds.
The analyst stated that the past BTC top was flagged when the BTC ETF Fund index tagged a record high. That was yet to be seen despite the new ATH price for BTC, and added,
“There is still room for growth before a potential extreme euphoria in this segment.”
Source: Joao Wedson/X
That said, when zoomed out on the weekly charts, BTC was about 10% away from tagging the multi-year trendline resistance (yellow). In 2023, 2024, and 2025, BTC faced rejection at this level.
If history repeats itself, BTC may face another extended correction only after tagging this hurdle (ranging anywhere from $118K to +$130K).
Overall, BTC may cool off slightly to shake out late longs between $104K-$108K. But key indicators suggested the asset has an extra ammo to push higher.
