Analyst: BTC Futures Market Enters Healthy Deleveraging Phase After Liquidation Peak, OI Shrinkage Signals Positive Outlook

On April 20, cryptocurrency market analyst Axel posted on social media that on April 17, approximately $526 million in short positions were liquidated in the BTC futures market in a single day. The open interest (OI) did not rebuild leverage after reaching a peak of 319,499 BTC, instead falling back to 293,045 BTC. The liquidation dominance indicator has shifted from negative values for two consecutive weeks to positive, indicating the end of the systemic short squeeze phase. Current prices are stable in the range of $75,000 to $76,000 while OI is shrinking, creating a constructive structure of ‘cooling down after a short squeeze’ rather than a new round of overheating. The next focus will be whether OI will return above 300,000 BTC when prices attempt to break through.