CryptoQuant founder: Bitcoin futures leverage is still high, ETF and DAT have become the main structured purchases

Comparing news, CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju wrote that Bitcoin OG traders have just experienced the most profitable cycle in history. Unlike in the past, crypto trading platform traders were not the main exiting liquidity in this cycle; ETFs and DAT (digital asset reserve companies) were the main buyers. This structured buying boosted Binance traders' unrealized profits to nearly three times the top of the 2021 cycle.

He said that the current Bitcoin price range is similar to that of two years ago, and the market is in the deleveraging phase. A large amount of unrealized profits accumulated during this cycle flowed into futures leverage. As traders' profits are settled, the BTC price has now stabilized near the average cost base of Binance traders.

Ki Young Ju also pointed out that the on-chain market leverage ratio (BTC/USDT futures holdings divided by USDT reserves) previously exceeded 0.5 and is currently around 0.3, which is still higher than the level before the ETF was launched. Futures leverage is expected to rise again if ETF funds continue to flow in.

Furthermore, he recalled that the OG giant whale made large-scale purchases in 2023 when BTC was close to $1.6 million, and the buyer/seller ratio showed that a large number of long market positions were established near the bottom of the cycle.