Open interest is tracked in dollars and in coins. Traders use the two differently. The dollar figure shows the current size of the market’s positions and lets traders compare monero with other cryptocurrencies. Liquidations are also typically reported in dollars, so a larger dollar figure points to a larger potential wave of forced selling. Open interest is also rising in coin terms. At 515.73K XMR, it is at a five-week high and up sharply from 400K XMR a week ago.
Liquidations, or forced closure of positions by exchanges, happen because futures involve leverage, in which a trader puts up a small deposit, called margin, to control a much larger position.
This leverage boosts gains when the market moves as expected, but when it doesn’t, the margin is eaten away. At some point, the exchange steps in and closes the position to prevent the trader’s losses from exceeding the collateral they posted and to protect the exchange from unpaid losses.
Traders betting on a rise, called longs, get liquidated when the price falls. The liquidation, in turn, adds to selling pressure in the market. This is especially true when most traders are long. In such cases, a slight price decline can trigger mass liquidation of longs and a price crash.
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