Derivatives Insights
BitMEX Open InterestOn XBTUSD Drops 45% In 12Hours
Over the last 24hours,Open Interest (OI)on the XBTUSD pair on BitMEX hasdropped from $840million to $433millionas the price of Bitcoin fell to $5,620.
Open Interest refers to the number of outstanding derivatives contracts that have yet to be settled. Open Interest provides an interesting insight into derivatives market activity, with decreasing OI representing a significant outflow of money from market.
The Open Interest on the XBTUSD pair on BitMEX reached an all time high of$1.06 billionone month ago, on February 15th, and is now at its lowest value sinceMay 2019.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) Reaches 75
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) iscurrently sitting at 75and is now at thehighest it has been since November 2008, quoting a higher 24-hour trade volume than Bitcoin.
The CBOE VIX is an index representing investorsexpectations of 30-day forward-looking market volatility. Also known as the ‘Fear Index‘, the VIXprovides an insight into market risk and sentiment, representing current levels of investor fear.
Established in 1993, it is only thesecond time in itshistorythat the CBOE VIX has gone above 50, representing significant uncertainty surrounding the future of the US equity markets. Specifically, VIX is up over390% in the past 30 days, and up430% in the previous 3 months.

Bitcoin Futures AtDiscount –Fall From 3% To -3%
Bitcoin Futures are currently trading at adiscount to spot pricesfor the first time in 2020 – falling from +3% in January 2020 to -3% – signalling abearish outlookon things to come.
Futures contracts represent agreements between parties to buy or sell BTC at a specific price and date in the future, allowing for hedging or speculation of the underlying asset. As such, prices trading at a discount to spot prices (referred to asmarket inversion) is a clear indication of bearish expectations.
On Delta, Bitcoin March 2020 Futures arecurrently trading at $5221.5, representing nearly a 4% discount to spot prices.CME Bitcoin March 2020 Futuresaretrading at $5385.0, a 0.7% discount, withCME April 2020Futurestrading at $5380.0, a 0.87% discount.

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