Bitcoin Speculators trimmed their cryptocurrency bearish bets for 3rd week

December 15th 2018 – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

Bitcoin Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:

Large cryptocurrency speculators continued to trim their bearish net positions in the Bitcoin futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.

The non-commercial futures contracts of Bitcoin futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -913 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday December 11th. This was a weekly change of 63 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -976 net contracts.

This week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position increasing by 329 contracts to a weekly total of 2,227 contracts that more than offset the gross bearish position which saw a gain by 266 contracts for the week to a total of 3,140 contracts.

The speculative bearish position fell for the third straight week and remains at the lowest bearish level since Bitcoin futures trading began in December of 2017.

Small Traders Positions:

The small traders reduced their existing bullish bets by 35 contracts this week to a total of 1,177 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 1,212 net contracts.

The small trader position has been on a small and steady decline after ascending to bullish levels of +2,000 contracts earlier in the year.

Bitcoin Commercial Positions:

The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -264 contracts on the week. This was a weekly change of -28 contracts from the total net of -236 contracts reported the previous week.

The commercials position just started being recorded in the data as of November 27th and has been negative in all three weeks thus far. Previously, the data consisted of just the speculators and the small trader positions.

Bitcoin Futures:

Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the Bitcoin Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $3320 which was a fall of $-520 from the previous close of $3840, according to unofficial market data.

*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).

Article By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email