As the BTC price rises, perpetual futures may look bearish. They're not, analyst 10x says.
Analyst 10x explains that negative Bitcoin funding rates reflect institutional hedging rather than a bearish market sentiment.Summary
Despite Bitcoin's recent price rally, perpetual futures funding rates have remained consistently negative, a divergence that typically signals bearish sentiment. However, 10x Research founder Markus Thielen argues this is not a shift in market sentiment but rather a result of structural hedging by sophisticated institutional players.
Thielen identifies three primary drivers for this short pressure. First, crypto hedge funds are shorting futures to neutralize exposure during redemption periods. Second, institutional trades involving MicroStrategy (MSTR) involve shorting futures to hedge against price volatility while seeking specific yields. Third, Bitcoin miners pivoting toward AI computing are using short futures positions to decouple their stock performance from crypto price correlation.
These activities represent mechanical risk management and structural market changes rather than a broad consensus that Bitcoin's price will fall.
(Source：CoinDesk)