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Hassan Shittu

Journalist

Hassan Shittu

About Author

Hassan, a Cryptonews.com journalist with 6+ years of experience in Web3 journalism, brings deep knowledge across Crypto, Web3 Gaming, NFTs, and Play-to-Earn sectors. His work has appeared in…

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September 2, 2025

Blockchain-based lender Figure Technology Solutions Inc. is preparing to go public this month in one of the most closely watched listings in the crypto-fintech sector.

The company and its backers are seeking to raise up to $526 million through an initial public offering, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to a Bloomberg report, Figure plans to sell 21.5 million shares priced between $18 and $20 each, while existing shareholders are offering an additional 4.9 million shares. At the top of that range, the firm would command a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, surpassing its $3.2 billion valuation from a 2021 venture round.

The company is expected to price its shares on September 10, with trading set to begin on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FIGR. Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and Bank of America are leading the offering.

Figure IPO Follows Strong Revenue Growth and Blockchain Expansion

Founded in 2018 by Mike Cagney, the former chief executive of SoFi Technologies, Figure has positioned itself as a developer of blockchain-based solutions to streamline consumer lending.

The firm began with home equity line of credit (HELOC) products and has since expanded into crypto-backed loans and a digital asset exchange.

To date, it has originated or purchased more than $16 billion in loans on-chain. In August, the company increased its HELOC borrowing limit from $400,000 to $750,000 to capture a larger share of equity-rich homeowners.

Figure has also moved into artificial intelligence, using OpenAI’s technology to evaluate loan applications and Google’s Gemini chatbot to improve customer interactions.

According to its filing, customers for partner-branded HELOC loans in the first half of 2025 had a weighted average FICO score of 756, slightly higher than the 749 average for its own-branded loans.

The company’s growth trajectory has accelerated in 2025. For the six months ending June 30, Figure reported a net income of $29.1 million on revenue of $190.6 million, compared with a net loss of $15.6 million on $156 million in revenue during the same period last year.

Investors include Apollo Global Management, 10T Holdings, and Ribbit Capital. Despite the IPO, Cagney will continue to control a majority of the voting power, the filing shows.

Michael Tannenbaum, formerly with Brex and SoFi, was appointed CEO in 2024, tasked with guiding the company’s public market debut and scaling its blockchain-based lending products.

Beyond lending, Figure is pursuing regulatory approval for what it says could be the first U.S.-approved interest-bearing stablecoin structured as a security.

Figure’s offering follows a series of confidential filings earlier this year, with the company formally submitting its registration in mid-August.

Marketing presentations to investors emphasize its ability to pair blockchain efficiency with traditional financial rigor, noting cost reductions in loan origination and securitization.

In addition to loan products, Figure recently rolled out its Intellidebt solution, which has already helped customers pay off $133 million in debt by consolidating credit cards, auto loans, and personal loans into single payment structures.

Crypto IPO Rush Accelerates as Gemini and Circle Join Wall Street Frenzy

Crypto-linked companies are racing to public markets this fall, capitalizing on renewed investor appetite and favorable conditions in the U.S.

According to recent filings, Gemini Space Station, the parent of crypto exchange Gemini, founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is seeking up to a $2.22 billion valuation in its Nasdaq debut.

The New York-based firm plans to sell 16.67 million Class A shares at $17 to $19 each, potentially raising $317 million. Shares will trade under the ticker GEMI, with underwriters granted an option to buy an additional 2.5 million shares.

Ripple has backed Gemini’s listing with a $75 million credit facility, expandable to $150 million.

The surge in activity comes after Circle Internet Group’s successful market debut earlier this year, which more than doubled its value. It now boasts a $30 billion market cap.

The strong performance has fueled optimism that 2025 could mark a turning point for digital asset firms after years of regulatory and market headwinds.

Wall Street banks are fielding heightened demand from technology and crypto issuers. Goldman Sachs’ co-head of equity capital markets, Will Connolly, said firms are accelerating timelines, with some originally targeting 2026, now asking to move forward this year.

JPMorgan’s Keith Canton projects that dozens of IPOs could close before year-end, raising more than $15 billion.

Beyond traditional listings, crypto-focused special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are also entering the fray. Bitcoin Infrastructure Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands-based blank-check firm, filed to raise $200 million to target Web3, DeFi, and blockchain finance companies, listing on Nasdaq under the ticker BIXIU.

Other listings include Bullish, a Peter Thiel-backed exchange that raised $1.15 billion in its NYSE debut, entirely in stablecoins. Bullish joined Coinbase and Circle among the best-performing crypto IPOs of 2025, with Circle and CoreWeave delivering 336% and 132% returns, respectively.

With supportive policy shifts under the Trump administration and a buoyant risk environment, crypto IPOs are gaining momentum as firms rush to secure market share before year-end.

The number of tradable crypto tokens has gone parabolic since 2022, with CoinMarketCap now tracking roughly 18.9 million digital assets, compared to a little over 20,000 in 2022.

In January of that year, roughly 20,000 assets were listed across major trackers. By mid-2025, that universe swelled to an estimated 18.9 million, an astonishing 945x increase in just three and a half years. 

The surge isn’t evenly distributed, as three high-throughput networks are responsible for about 90% of the new supply: Solana, Base, and BNB, driven by low fees, turnkey launchpads, and a culture of rapid experimentation.

The three kings

Solana is the epicenter. Over the past year alone, the chain saw on the order of 18 million new tokens minted as memecoin factories and no-code issuers lowered the barrier to creation to pennies. 

Pump.fun has produced approximately 11.4 million SPL tokens by late July 2025, according to the Dune dashboard by user oladee, which tracks the app’s on-chain mints. That’s up from roughly 8.7 million in March 2025, adding almost 2.7 million in four months, up by 31%. 

The count exceeds the combined new token count on Base, BSC, Tron, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Ethereum during the same period. 

The result is a torrent of micro-cap assets, most launched for fun, virality, or speculation, and many never progressing beyond a few wallets and a shallow liquidity pool.

Base has emerged as the fastest follower. In barely a year, developers and creators deployed more than 8.4 million fungible tokens on the network.

Creator coin tooling tied to Zora ignited a rapid mint cycle on Coinbase’s L2. A Dune dashboard by user Sealaunch reported over 1.5 million creator coins minted in 2025, as the model spread, with much of this activity centered on Base following its integration into the Base App. 

In late July, Base briefly outpaced Solana by daily token count as “content coins” turned social posts into micro-tokens at scale.

Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which pioneered the cheap-token boom in 2021, continues to significantly contribute to new token launches. 

BscScan’s token tracker lists nearly 4.7 million BEP-20 token contracts on BNB Chain, the ecosystem that BSC is part of. This highlights its role as a mass-mint venue for fungible assets.

While its share of new issuance has faded relative to Solana and Base, BSC remains a go-to venue for fast, low-cost launches.

Liquidity per token shrinks

The catch to this Cambrian explosion is liquidity. Capital simply hasn’t kept pace with supply. Average stablecoin liquidity per token has collapsed from around $1.8 million in 2021 to roughly $5,500 in early 2025. 

In practical terms, most of the 18.9 million tokens are illiquid, thinly traded, and highly susceptible to manipulation. Prices can rocket or crater on a few hundred dollars of flow, and rug-pulls remain a risk wherever low-effort issuance thrives.

That imbalance is reshaping market structure. Despite the proliferation of assets, value continues to concentrate in a few hundred names, with Bitcoin’s and Ethereum’s dominance climbing as capital consolidates into proven networks while the long tail languishes. 

For teams, the sheer existence of a token no longer confers value. Protocols must prove durable demand by showing users, fees, cash flows, or compelling utility to attract liquidity in a saturated field.

Networks face their own trade-offs. High throughput and low fees empower permissionless creativity but also invite spam and churn. 

Mentioned in this article

Over the past week, the $PENGU token has increased 24.8%, riding a wave of bullish momentum fueled by ETF speculation, aggressive whale accumulation, and the growing institutional interest in meme coins.

Beyond Memes: Gaming, NFTs, and Real-World Utility

Pudgy Penguins is a Solana-based memecoin launched in late 2024 with an 88.9 billion total supply.

Last December, the project airdropped 62.86 billion tokens to Penguin NFT holders and broader Web3 participants, accelerating distribution and sparking fresh liquidity.

The protocol now underpins NFT collectibles, real-world licensing, and gaming titles such as “Pengu Clash,” which had over 2 million users sign up for its early access phase.

SPENGU’s tokenomics revolve around community governance and ecosystem funding. Currently, with 560.74k token holders, these holders vote on feature upgrades and grant allocations, while fee-generated proceeds support development.

Ecosystem partnerships now extend beyond digital art.

Collaborations with NASCAR and Lufthansa enable users to earn reward miles through $PENGU purchases, while Walmart-licensed merchandise and a planned integration with Ledger hardware wallet push utility into mainstream channels.

Still, the whales have been the major driver of the $PENGU price. On June 28, a net buy of $24 million in $PENGU set the rally in motion. That influx overwhelmed sellers, pushing $PENGU from $0.015 support to today’s highs.

Similarly, bids across Binance, OKX, and Gate.io rose 80% over 30 days, while the sell wall shrank 18%, easing pressure. Most telling, traderpow’s 94 million-token purchase soaked up liquidity and signaled bullish conviction.

Whales have ramped up $PENGU accumulation after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recognized Canary Capital’s ETF filing. This saw the price rise to a six-month high, as investors anticipated the ETF, slated to allocate both $PENGU tokens and Pudgy Penguins NFTs.

On July 9, the SEC initiated a 21-day public comment period on the 19b-4 filing, which likely fueled further buying momentum.

Historical ETF updates in March and June spurred similar rallies, and as bids swelled while selling pressure eased, whales continued to accumulate $PENGU.

$PENGU/USDT Breaks Out from Bullish Consolidation – Can Buyers Sustain the Rally?

The 4-hour chart of $PENGU/USDT shows a bullish breakout following a period of consolidation marked by higher lows, which is a typical structure that reflects accumulation, where buyers steadily step in at higher levels, absorbing supply and gradually pushing the price higher.

From there on (more specifically from late June through early July), $PENGU’s price formed a mild descending channel while maintaining a rising support trendline. This signaled that despite short-term pullbacks, the broader demand base was strengthening.

The breakout occurred late on July 9, as price decisively moved above the upper trendline of the consolidation zone near $0.0135.

This move was technically significant and was also backed by a substantial jump in volume. When a breakout occurs with significant volume, it could be speculated that institutional or high-volume traders are participating. It’s not just retail-driven momentum.

Following this volume pump, $PENGU’s asset price immediately rallied into the $0.019–$0.020 region, approaching a psychological resistance level.

Psychological resistance levels often act as natural barriers where traders place profit targets or sell orders, which is why price momentum may temporarily pause or reverse around such points.

The area between $0.0135 and $0.0150, previously an overhead barrier during the consolidation phase, became a key support zone, as it’s the level where the breakout was initiated.

This view is further supported by the volume footprint chart, which reveals the underlying order flow dynamics during the breakout.

During the rally, transaction volume spiked above $2 billion, with aggressive buying and selling occurring in real-time.

In one of the breakout candles, total buy volume reached $983.35 million, but was outweighed by $1.08 billion in sell volume, resulting in a net delta of -95.25 million.

This suggests that sellers were actively offloading into strength, likely taking profits or initiating hedges against the rally. The next session also closed with a negative delta of -28.23 million, hinting at some lingering resistance.

If buyers remain active and rising volume pushes the price above $0.020, the uptrend may continue. A drop below the new support zone could lead to a pullback or extended consolidation. The market structure looks positive. Clear support and resistance levels will likely determine the next price movement.

The post $PENGU Soars 33% Overnight as Whale Frenzy & ETF Hype Ignite Memecoin Rally—What’s Next? appeared first on Cryptonews.

The XRP price has risen to $2.61 in the last 24 hours, recording a 22% increase over the last seven days, allowing us to maintain a steady pace. Traders are building up into futures contracts.

Notable performances were in the open interest sector, jumping over 40%.

Related readings

Rising activities

XRP futures skyrocketed from $2.42 billion to $3.42 billion in just a week, according to GlassNode data posted on May 13th. That $1 billion increase represents an almost 42% increase in active contracts.

When both price and open interest rise, it usually means new money comes in, and traders expect it more upside down.

$ xrp Open interest on futures has skyrocketed over $1 billion over the past week, rising from $2.42 billion to $3.42 billion (+41.6%). This rapid increase in leverage coincides with a price rise of between $2.14 and $2.48, suggesting a rise in speculative activity and a growing conviction of direction. pic.twitter.com/qbsaom9oxe

-Glass Node (@GlassNode) May 13, 2025

Price vs. market profit

Based on the report, XRP’s one-week gain outperforms the broader cryptocurrency market, which has risen about 12% over the same period. If most major coins are rising in low double digits, a jump of nearly 20% is not a small feat.

Traders now consider XRP one of the more powerful performers and bet accordingly.

Momentum indicators are heading up

XRP trades above the 200-day moving average for 10-50 days. This indicates that both short-term and long-term trends are favorable to buyers. The relative strength index is 68, which is too much to reach the zone.

There is still space for the gathering to continue before reaching the ceiling. The divergence of moving average convergence is also high, suggesting a continuing momentum of the rise.

Institutional demand increases

Meanwhile, XXRP ETFs have been influx for five consecutive weeks. Last week, we added $14 million in new money, starting from $10 million a week ago. The fund currently holds $100 million in assets.

Even with an annual fee of 1.80% (almost twice as many Bitcoin ETFs), investors still have value in the XRP-linked product.

Odds and projection

Based on a market consul platform like Polymarket, there is a 79% chance that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will immediately approve the Spot XRP ETF.

According to analysts at JPMorgan, these ETFs can attract as much as $8 billion in their first year. This is more than what the Ethereum Fund saw after its launch in September 2024. Such demand could potentially increase XRP even higher.

Related readings

Outlook and risk

A solid influx of ETFs that bring together price action, raise interest, and steady inflows of ETFs will be a bullish case. If a trader locks up a profit, rapid profits can easily disappear. If it falls below the 50-day average, it will act as a warning signal. Regulation delays or broader crypto sales could similarly derail the gathering.

For now, XRP is sitting on a critical average and seeing fresh capital in it. Many traders and institutions are bullish. However, anyone participating should look at the technical level and look to news about Spot ETF approval.

If these pieces fall into place, the XRP can lift another leg. However, if the market calms down or regulators suspend, execution could stall.

Gemini Images, TradingView charts

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If you thought meme coins were just about dogs and frogs, think again.

The latest catalysts for crypto’s most chaotic sector are politics, artificial intelligence, and the surreal headlines that come with them.

A Nasdaq-listed freight company is building a $20M Trump-themed meme coin war chest.

Vice President JD Vance recently defended an AI-generated image of Donald Trump as the Pope, posted by Trump himself on Truth Social – sparking backlash and reigniting debate over deepfakes.

And Elon Musk’s Grok AI is under fire from MAGA supporters for going ‘woke.’

In this environment, meme coins aren’t just internet jokes – they’re becoming cultural barometers. They ride the highs of hype and the lows of outrage. And today, some of them are looking a lot less like memes and a lot more like moonshots.

When Politics and AI Fuel the Fire

What connects a trucking company’s crypto investments, presidential deepfakes, and chatbot controversies? Simple: attention.

In a media landscape fueled by outrage and virality, meme culture has become a tool – and new crypto projects are wielding it masterfully.

A publicly traded logistics firm Freight Technologies made waves by reportedly amassing $20M to back Trump-themed meme coins. That’s not your average meme play – that’s institutional money betting on internet culture, with serious election-year overtones.

While critics saw it as distasteful, JD Vance stepped in to defend the post, calling it ‘funny’ and suggesting people should ‘lighten up.’

Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Grok – his AI chatbot built to deliver ‘the truth’ – is facing backlash from parts of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) community.

Why? Because Grok pointed out a few uncomfortable facts, leading some to claim the bot had turned ‘woke.’

This cultural chaos is perfect fuel for meme coins. They thrive on stories, feed on conflict, and turn outrage into opportunity.

1. BTC Bull Token ($BTCBULL) – Where Meme Culture Meets Real Bitcoin Rewards

BTC Bull Token ($BTCBULL) is a turbo-charged, Bitcoin-themed community token built to ride $BTC’s next surge to $1M.

Designed for the crypto crowd that’s both bullish on Bitcoin and politically fired-up, $BTCBULL blends meme culture, rewards, and smart tokenomics in a way few projects dare to.

Here’s the twist: $BTCBULL rewards its holders with real Bitcoin – not more tokens, not some mystery airdrop, but actual $BTC.

Every time Bitcoin crosses a major price milestone (like $150K or $200K), presale buyers and holders who use Best Wallet automatically receive Bitcoin. That’s on top of up to 119% APY in staking rewards for locking in your tokens.

However, you need to buy and hold your $BTCBULL in Best Wallet in order to receive these airdrops.

There’s also a deflationary mechanic built in. As Bitcoin breaks key thresholds (like $125K, $175K, or $225K), $BTCBULL’s supply is burned, reducing the total number of tokens and boosting scarcity.

With a presale haul of over $5.3M and a current price of just $0.002495, $BTCBULL has already attracted a growing crowd of early believers – not just in the memes, but in the long-term upside of riding Bitcoin’s momentum with real, built-in rewards.

2. Mind of Pepe ($MIND) – The Meme Coin With a Mind of Its Own

Mind of Pepe ($MIND) isn’t just riding the AI hype wave – it’s building it. This is the first major meme coin to come with its own self-sovereign AI agent, designed to interact with the crypto world in real time and give holders a serious edge.

At its core, $MIND is powered by an evolving AI that operates independently on platforms like X, analyzing the hive mind of the crypto community on X to spot trends before they happen.

It doesn’t just observe – it engages, influences, and even stirs up conversations. And here’s the kicker: only those who buy and hold $MIND get access to the insights it uncovers, delivered via token-gated channels.

But it doesn’t stop at alpha leaks. Mind of Pepe can interact with dApps, deploy its own tokens, and give holders first-in access to trading opportunities it helps create. It’s a frog with influence – and a wallet.

The project’s utility goes beyond hype.

Currently priced at $0.0037515, and with over $8.7M raised in its presale, $MIND isn’t just riding the cultural chaos of AI and memes. It’s learning from it, evolving through it — and turning it into alpha.

3. Dawgz AI ($DAGZ) – Turning Internet Hype into AI-Powered Gains

Dawgz AI ($DAGZ) is shaking up the meme coin scene by mixing AI utility with meme-worthy flair.

It’s not just about hype – this Ethereum-based project gives holders access to real tech, including proprietary Blackbox AI trading bots that operate 24/7.

These bots are designed to scan markets, identify opportunities, and fine-tune strategies in real time, giving users a potential edge in a volatile space.

But that’s not all. $DAGZ holders can stake their tokens for passive income, with competitive APYs and a staking pool funded from the project’s smart tokenomics.

Out of the total 8.8B token supply, 30% is allocated to presale buyers, while 20% is reserved for staking rewards – reinforcing long-term growth.

Currently priced at $0.004, with the next price set at $0.00438, Dawgz AI has already raised $3.4M in its presale.

That early traction suggests this is more than just a dog with a digital bark – it’s a full-stack AI platform in meme coin form, aiming to bring brains to the blockchain.

Meme Coins Just Got an Upgrade

Today’s meme coins are more than hype – they’re wired into politics, AI, and real utility.

BTC Bull Token pays you in Bitcoin airdrops. Mind of Pepe gives holders access to AI-driven alpha and early token launches. Dawgz AI brings automated trading tools and staking into the meme space.

These projects aren’t just following trends – they’re shaping them. In a world this weird, your next moonshot might come from a frog, a bull, or an AI-powered dog.

And don’t forget to always do your own research (DYOR) before investing.

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After trading below the $2 mark for the past 3 days, XRP has finally recovered the level with a nearly 14% upswing in mere hours. Its recent upward move to the $2 level is attributed to a sudden surge in the entire crypto market, coupled with the notable bullish performance in its network activities and derivatives market.

Notable Surge In XRP’s Futures Trading Volume

While XRP’s price is struggling to regain its upward momentum, many areas of its market are showing bullish performance, rising to unprecedented levels. These positive developments could generate enough momentum for the altcoin, paving the way for a much larger rebound in the near term.

Ali Martinez, a seasoned technical expert and trader, has delved into XRP’s recent market performance, revealing substantial growth in the past few days. Specifically, the volume of XRP’s futures trading has exploded as fresh market interest pours into the asset, hitting new heights. On-chain data from Martinez shows that the futures trading volume rose to about $21.62 billion across all crypto exchanges, marking a new monthly high. 

Despite general market volatility, this strong surge in derivative activity indicates increased investor confidence and speculative enthusiasm behind the altcoin. Furthermore, it is often seen as a sign of increased price activity, with investors and traders anticipating possible breakouts in the short term.

This spike in futures trading volume coincides with a sharp growth in XRP’s network activity, signaling heightened investor participation and conviction. Martinez reported the development in another post on the X (formerly Twitter) platform, capturing the attention of the community.

In the post, the expert reported that the network is showing signs of robust growth as wallet addresses holding at least 1 XRP have grown sharply over the past few days. Even as prices still undergo notable bearish pressure, this rise in small-scale investors implies improving adoption and retail interest in the altcoin.

Data shows that these holders have now reached a new all-time high with a total of 6.26 million wallet addresses in spite of the recent volatility around the asset. A persistent rise in the wallet addresses could be a bullish sign for the network’s long-term fundamentals, potentially sparking a short-term shift in the altcoin’s price.

Critical Levels To Surpass For A Continued Uptrend

XRP may have briefly rebounded, but several resistance levels might hinder its uptrend. After navigating the recent shift in price action through the UTXO Realized Price Distribution (URPD) metric, Ali Martinez has outlined the key areas where the asset is likely to face robust barriers.

As prices grow slowly, the key support levels are sitting at $1.67 and $1.39. Holding above these areas will provide more stability to its recent upward move. However, if it falls below these points, it will approach even stronger support at $0.98 due to the significant accumulation observed there. On the upside, the crucial areas to break are the $2.04 and $2.38 resistance levels, as over 1.76% and 3.36% of XRP supply were accumulated at these zones, respectively.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com

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Bitcoin tumbled from $83,000 to $74,000 overnight, triggering over $1.36 billion in liquidations across digital asset markets, according to Coinglass.

The sharp correction followed escalating trade tensions, with U.S. President Donald Trump announcing sweeping tariffs on nearly all major trading partners late Friday.

More than 441,000 traders were liquidated over the 24 hours, with long positions accounting for $1.21 billion of the total. Bitcoin alone saw $401.31 million in long-side liquidations, with Ethereum contributing $341.82 million.

The most significant single liquidation order, valued at $16.38 million, occurred on Bitfinex’s perpetual contract. The top five assets by liquidation volume included BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and DOGE.

The move coincided with broader market turmoil. S&P 500 Futures Index ER dropped 10% over the weekend, following back-to-back daily losses exceeding 4% on Thursday and Friday, among one of the steepest two-day declines in index history.

The liquidation heatmap shows concentrated pressure on Bitcoin and Ethereum, though altcoins such as XRP, SOL, and DOGE also experienced significant drawdowns.

BTC’s 24-hour price declined 10.25%, ETH fell 19.84%, and most major altcoins posted double-digit losses. The data suggests the sell-off was long-heavy, with short liquidations remaining comparatively minimal.

While the pullback punctuates Bitcoin’s recent strength, peaking above $109,000 in January following Trump’s reelection and inauguration, it has now reversed to levels last since under Joe Biden.

Bitcoin has a strong resistance level of around $73,000, which I have advocated for being the local bottom of a sustained bull run. However, global pressure and the unprecedented tariffs have created a black swan event that no technical analysis can foreshadow.

As geopolitical tensions mount, digital asset markets are now repricing risk in tandem with traditional equities.

Mentioned in this article

Between March 21 and March 24, Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) experienced notable fluctuations. On March 21, OI stood at $52.83 billion, edging slightly to $52.86 billion on March 22, a negligible increase of 0.06%.

The following day, March 23, saw a dip to $51.87 billion, a 1.87% decrease. However, the real action unfolded on March 24, when OI surged by 10.97% to reach $57.56 billion. This spike followed Bitcoin’s price, which climbed from $83,804 on March 23 to $87,674 on March 24, a 4.62% increase.

Data from CoinGlass shows that certain exchanges stand out in terms of their significant increases in OI. BingX led the pack with a remarkable 121.15% surge, bringing its OI to 9.02K BTC (approximately $790 million).

Gate.io followed with a 26.25% increase, raising its OI to 85.88K BTC (around $7.53 billion), while Bitunix saw a 17.66% rise to 51.85K BTC (about $4.55 billion). Although BingX’s percentage jump was the most dramatic, its absolute OI remains modest compared to larger players like Gate.io, which contributed more significantly to the overall OI pool.

Meanwhile, Binance, the largest exchange by OI with 110.43K BTC ($9.69 billion), experienced a more moderate 9.86% increase — substantial given its scale but below the market average.

The robust growth at Gate.io and Bitunix signals broadening activity across mid- and low-tier exchanges.

Several factors likely contributed to the surge in open interest on March 24. The 4.62% Bitcoin price rally was a clear catalyst, as rising prices often attract traders to futures markets, particularly for long positions betting on further gains. Market sentiment and speculation also played a role in the rapid OI growth — especially BingX’s 121.15% leap.

While the price increase caused a surge in futures activity, exchange-specific catalysts could have further fueled the increases. For instance, BingX’s outsized growth might stem from a low starting base or platform incentives like lower fees or promotions, while Gate.io and Bitunix likely benefited from their larger user bases and established liquidity. Additionally, leverage and margin trading probably amplified the spike in OI.

The 10.97% OI jump and a 4.62% price rise indicate a bullish sentiment. The OI increase outpacing the price gain suggests traders are aggressively positioning for more upside. However, this rapid growth, particularly on smaller exchanges like BingX, also points to heightened speculation, which can amplify price moves but raises the risk of increased volatility. When paired with leverage, elevated open interest increases the likelihood of liquidations. Any sharp pullbacks could trigger forced selling, further accelerating downward pressure.

In terms of OI distribution across exchanges, Binance holds 16.83% of the total OI with $9.69 billion, but its 9.86% growth lagged the market’s 10.97% average. Meanwhile, Gate.io’s 26.25% surge pushed its OI to 85.88K BTC, indicating a potential shift in dominance among exchanges.

Timeframe variations in OI changes also revealed that shorter-term shifts were less dramatic, with Kraken leading 1-hour changes at +1.22% and Bitget topping 4-hour gains at +1.82%. The 24-hour window, dominated by BingX, captured the bulk of the activity, suggesting a concentrated burst of trading.

The OI/24h volume ratio offers further insight. Deribit’s ratio of 4.0109 indicates lower trading turnover relative to its OI, hinting at longer-term positions, while Gate.io’s ratio of 2.1339 reflects higher activity, consistent with its OI growth. A lower ratio often signals aggressive short-term trading.

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