Investors have once again injected funds into meme-based cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB), signaling a sign of caution for bitcoin (BTC) traders. According to Coinglass data, open interest in Binance’s SHIB futures has more than doubled to $101.65 million this month, reaching its highest since February 5th. These futures are of a size of 1,000 SHIB per contract, with up to 25x leverage.
The surge in SHIB’s market value has also been noteworthy, with its capitalization jumping nearly 32% to $6.58 billion, as the cryptocurrency is expected to become more legitimate through its upcoming layer-2 launch. This, coupled with an increase in open interest, indicates an influx of new money in the SHIB market, which usually means a weakening of Bitcoin – the leading cryptocurrency by market value.
This is the seventh time open interest in SHIB has risen above $100 million since its inception, and the previous six spikes have indicated local Bitcoin price tops. This reflects the traditional market trend where great gains in meme stocks compared to defensive stocks are seen as a sign of the broader market’s decline. Nevertheless, Bitcoin has remained steady around the $30,000 mark this month, as per CoinDesk data. However, past performance is not a guarantee of future results, and some analysts still anticipate a Bitcoin uptrend.
