Dogecoin (DOGE) posted a nearly 10% gain over the past week, briefly pushing above $0.11 before settling near $0.105, while bitcoin pulled back from above $79,000 to below $76,000. The two assets diverged sharply as speculative interest rotated into the meme coin.
Futures Open Interest Hits Yearly Peak
Data from Coinglass shows that open interest (OI) in DOGE futures has risen to 15.36 billion tokens, the highest level so far this year. Open interest refers to the number of active contracts at any given time. A rising OI typically signals that more traders are chasing leveraged directional plays, reflecting strong risk appetite. However, it also leaves the market more exposed to sharp liquidations if the momentum reverses.
Exchange Distribution
Binance accounted for nearly 3.99 billion DOGE in open interest, followed by Bitget, Bybit, and OKX, each holding over 1 billion DOGE. Hyperliquid, MEXC, WhiteBIT, and KuCoin also showed sizable positions, indicating a broad-based move not confined to a single venue.
On-Chain Activity and Institutional Flows Turn Positive
Jordan Jefferson, founder of DogeOS and MyDoge, told CoinDesk that the rally is not tied to a single news event. Over the past week, large holders added more than 500 million DOGE. 21Shares listed a physically backed ETP on Xetra, and Grayscale flows turned positive after nine straight days of outflows. Active addresses rose 28% on-chain.
Jefferson noted that DOGE's market structure tends to respond quickly when spot accumulation, derivatives leverage, and retail narratives align. Historically, DOGE has traded more like an attention-driven macro meme than a payments asset, where positioning can accelerate once traders believe a familiar catalyst is back in play.
X Payments Narrative Remains a Swing Factor
Elon Musk has stated that X Money will launch as a payments product supporting peer-to-peer transfers, bank deposits, a debit card, and cashback rewards through X Payments, a licensed subsidiary partnered with Visa. This remains the least concrete part of the DOGE trade but continues to serve as a potential catalyst.
Overall, the combination of rising spot price and futures OI suggests new money is entering the market rather than old positions being closed. However, the elevated leverage also raises the risk of cascading liquidations if the trend falters.