the total dollars of futures positions currently open.
Open Interest is the total dollars of futures positions currently open.
it's live leverage sitting in the market, waiting to be liquidated if price moves against it.
high open interest plus a fast move equals forced selling or forced buying, liquidations fuel wicks.
The desk watches this alongside the nine Pulse Score signals when reading a coin. See Methodology for how the score fuses its inputs.
an exchange force-closing a leveraged position
Next explainerhow much more (or less) BTC trades for on Coinbase vs the rest of the world, in basis points
Explainer generated Sep 24, 2026 from the desk glossary. Not financial advice.