Bitcoin Funding Rates Plummet to Lowest Since 2023 Amid Price Rally

Bitcoin's funding rates have hit their lowest levels since 2023, despite the asset's price increase from the $60,000 to around $75,000 range in March and April.

The data comes from blockchain analytics firm Glassnode. On a seven-day moving average, the rates have dropped to approximately -0.005%.

Funding rates are periodic payments exchanged between traders holding long and short positions in perpetual futures contracts. A negative rate means short traders pay long traders, indicating a market where bearish bets outweigh bullish ones.

This pattern has appeared at key turning points in Bitcoin's price history, including the 2020 COVID-19 sell-off, the mid-2021 China mining ban, and the FTX collapse in November 2022. A similar setup emerged during the Silicon Valley Bank crisis in 2023 and again during the April 2025 'Liberation Day' sell-off.

Heavy short positioning can create conditions for a squeeze higher as bearish bets are unwound, adding upward price pressure.