Trump’s Pro-Crypto Orders See Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Jump, Then Unwind

Bitcoin is close to revisiting last week’s highs after U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto announcements on Thursday. 

Up 3% from this week’s open, Bitcoin is trading close to $117,000, CoinGecko data shows. 

The spurt in buying pressure follows Trump’s executive orders to include crypto in 401(K)s and prohibit the debanking of crypto-related initiatives.

The top crypto jumped 2.3% from Thursday’s open to set a daily high of $117,580, causing nearly $300 million in short positions to be forced closed or liquidated, marking a three-week high.

“While it’s very positive news for the industry and investors, we don’t anticipate this action alone having an outsized impact on near-term prices,” Gerry O’Shea, head of global market insights at Hashdex, told Decrypt.

Still, it marks a point of difference for Bitcoin bulls, whose $275 million, on average, in longs faced forced daily closures for the past three weeks, mainly due to the asset’s choppy and gradual price decline.

Open interest in Bitcoin futures, which measures the total number of outstanding contracts not yet settled, surged from about $9.71 billion to more than $10 billion in the hours after Trump’s announcement, before quickly retreating to pre-news levels, CoinGlass data shows. 

The pullback, alongside a still-elevated cumulative volume delta, or a measure of the gap between market buys and sells, suggests rapid profit-taking even as buyers attempt to sustain the rally.

But even as pressure on the bulls in the short term remains, O’Shea acknowledged Thursday’s developments from the White House are “collectively legitimizing” crypto in the eyes of investors, setting up those who invest in them for “strong performance over the next 12 months.”

That could drive the “price of Bitcoin to $140,000 or higher this year,” he said.