Bitcoin’s latest move above $71,000 is coinciding with a broad rise in stablecoin-margined open interest across several major derivatives exchanges, suggesting that the expansion in outstanding futures positions is market-wide rather than concentrated on a single venue.

On August 20, Binance BTC open interest reached $4.30 billion, its highest reading since June 19, when it stood at $3.57 billion.

That represents an increase of roughly 20.4%.

The same direction is visible across other major exchanges.

Bybit open interest climbed to $2.27 billion, about 27.5% above its June 23 reading of $1.78 billion.

Gate.io recorded the largest percentage increase among the five exchanges, rising to $2.25 billion from $1.62 billion on June 9 — an increase of approximately 38.9%.

Meanwhile, OKX open interest rose 17.5% from $1.14 billion to $1.34 billion, while HTX increased nearly 7.9% from $1.01 billion to $1.09 billion over the same June comparison.

Together, Binance, Bybit, Gate.io, OKX and HTX now hold roughly $11.25 billion in stablecoin-margined Bitcoin open interest.

The synchronized increase is notable because it coincides with Bitcoin recovering to around $71,000, well above the roughly $60,000-$63,000 range seen during much of June and July.

Open interest does not indicate whether traders are positioned predominantly long or short, so the rise should not be interpreted as a directional signal on its own. However, the simultaneous increase across several large exchanges indicates that derivatives exposure is expanding broadly alongside Bitcoin’s price recovery.

Written by Amr Taha