Bitcoin Price Spikes to $57K as Leveraged Futures Traders Bet on Further Gains
• Bitcoin funding rates on exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Deribit have spiked to over 100%, indicating extreme bullish leverage in perpetual futures markets
• High funding rates create profitable arbitrage opportunities for traders to short futures and buy spot bitcoin
• The funding spikes suggest traders are betting on continued price rises due to bitcoin ETF inflows and upcoming halving
• According to analyst Markus Thielen, elevated rates provide "exceptionally high" spreads for crypto hedge funds to profit from futures-spot arbitrage
• Bitcoin's price rose to nearly $57,000, its highest since late 2021, extending its year-to-date gain to 32% amid the leverage-fueled futures optimism