CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju has corrected his earlier reading of CME Bitcoin futures positioning, saying he mistakenly labeled "Total Reportables" as "Leveraged Funds" in a previous analysis. That error led him to conclude that CME hedge funds had flipped to a rare net long in BTC futures. In fact, leveraged funds remain net short.
Citing CFTC data through Aug. 4, Ju said large institutional traders — a category that includes asset managers, market makers and dealers — are slightly net long overall. Although the net long is modest, his earlier view that institutions lean bullish still holds, he noted.
Leveraged funds, meanwhile, still hold a net short position in standard BTC futures. That position has shrunk by about 50% over the past year, measured in BTC, mainly because basis trade yields have fallen. With futures basis below U.S. Treasury yields, arbitrage opportunities have narrowed. At the same time, leveraged funds hold a net long in Micro BTC futures, but it is small — roughly +394 BTC, or about 1% of the standard net short.
Ju said leveraged funds have not turned net long as a group, but their long-standing structural short is clearly weakening. That could reflect basis trade unwinding and directional positioning adjustments.