Leveraged funds betting against Bitcoin futures reached their deepest bearish stance in at least three months this week, pushing their aggregate short position to a new high for the current data window. According to the latest CFTC Traders in Financial Futures report, these traders were net short 8,089 contracts as of Tuesday, 2026-08-25. That position deepened by 650 contracts from the prior week even as the market's overall size expanded, with open interest climbing by 456 contracts to 22,216.
XOOMAR Pulse Intelligence
CFTC Commitment of Traders (COT) Positioning
That 8,089-contract net short is the most negative position leveraged funds have held within our stored window of the last twelve reports. It's a decisive move away from the more moderate posture of just eleven weeks prior, on June 9, when their net short stood at 5,995 contracts.
The Regime Shift
The story over the last quarter isn't one of steady decline, but of two distinct phases. For the first month of data, from early June to early July, leveraged fund net shorts fluctuated within a band between roughly 6,000 and 6,700 contracts. The posture was bearish, but not extreme. That changed in mid-July.
The week of July 14 saw the net short jump to 7,491 contracts, breaking the previous ceiling. A week later it climbed further to 7,949. That established a new, more aggressive bearish regime. While there was a brief pullback to 6,873 in late July, the positioning quickly returned to this higher level, oscillating between 7,000 and 7,400 contracts throughout most of August.
This week's print of 8,089 contracts doesn't just extend that trend. It smashes through the recent ceiling, underscoring a fresh intensification of the bearish bet. This happened even as asset managers on the other side of the trade increased their net long position to 2,945 contracts, the highest it's been since early June. The futures market is setting up a clear clash between two major player classes.
Bitcoin COT, last 12 reports
CFTC Traders in Financial Futures. Leveraged-fund net is long minus short.
| Report date | Open interest | Lev fund long | Lev fund short | Lev fund net | Asset manager net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-02 | 19,882 | 6,269 | 12,827 | -6,558 contracts | +3,103 contracts |
| 2026-06-09 | 19,776 | 6,153 | 12,148 | -5,995 contracts | +2,888 contracts |
| 2026-06-16 | 21,125 | 6,077 | 12,684 | -6,607 contracts | +2,507 contracts |
| 2026-06-23 | 20,554 | 4,925 | 11,055 | -6,130 contracts | +2,585 contracts |
| 2026-07-07 | 18,832 | 4,406 | 11,123 | -6,717 contracts | +2,385 contracts |
| 2026-07-14 | 19,385 | 4,015 | 11,506 | -7,491 contracts | +2,815 contracts |
| 2026-07-21 | 20,527 | 4,042 | 11,991 | -7,949 contracts | +2,727 contracts |
| 2026-07-28 | 20,019 | 3,295 | 10,168 | -6,873 contracts | +2,299 contracts |
| 2026-08-04 | 20,143 | 4,243 | 11,483 | -7,240 contracts | +2,542 contracts |
| 2026-08-11 | 21,185 | 4,997 | 12,049 | -7,052 contracts | +2,234 contracts |
| 2026-08-18 | 21,760 | 4,488 | 11,927 | -7,439 contracts | +2,732 contracts |
| 2026-08-25 | 22,216 | 3,181 | 11,270 | -8,089 contracts | +2,945 contracts |
Ether Echo
A similar, though separate, drama is playing out in the Ether cash-settled futures market. This is a different CFTC contract tape, so we can't draw a direct causal link to Bitcoin's moves. But the sentiment appears aligned.
Leveraged funds in the Ether market have also been ramping up their net short bets since early August. On July 28, their net short stood at a relatively moderate 5,396 contracts. Over the following four weeks, that position has deepened significantly, culminating in this week's report showing a net short of 8,385 contracts on an open interest of 26,868. The bearish conviction across these major crypto futures markets is becoming a shared theme.
Ether cash-settled COT, recent reports
Related CFTC tape. Not caused by the Bitcoin print.
| Report date | Open interest | Lev fund net |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-07 | 21,746 | -7,309 contracts |
| 2026-07-14 | 22,539 | -7,961 contracts |
| 2026-07-21 | 23,667 | -7,053 contracts |
| 2026-07-28 | 23,853 | -5,396 contracts |
| 2026-08-04 | 20,431 | -3,205 contracts |
| 2026-08-11 | 21,970 | -3,998 contracts |
| 2026-08-18 | 22,684 | -4,395 contracts |
| 2026-08-25 | 26,868 | -8,385 contracts |
The Bottom Line
The data speaks to a hardening of positions. Leveraged funds are not just maintaining a bearish view, they are actively increasing the size of that bet, reaching a new peak of conviction within our current data scope. Simultaneously, asset managers are holding one of their largest net long positions in months. This sets the stage for a potential showdown in the Bitcoin derivatives arena, with the CFTC's next report set to reveal whether this divide continues to grow.
Methodology: This analysis uses data from the CFTC's weekly Traders in Financial Futures report, as stored in XOOMAR COT. The leveraged-fund net position is calculated as leveraged-fund long contracts minus leveraged-fund short contracts. A negative result indicates a net short position.
Primary Sources & Disclosures
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Written by
XOOMAR Insights Team
Research and Editorial Desk
The XOOMAR Insights Team pairs automated research with human editorial judgment. We track hundreds of sources across technology, fintech, trading, SaaS, and cybersecurity, cross-check the facts, and explain what happened, why it matters, and what to watch next. We do not just rewrite headlines. Every article is fact-checked and scored for reliability before it goes live, and we link back to the original sources so you can verify anything yourself.
