Bitcoin margin long-to-short ratio at Bitfinex reach the highest level ever

Sept. 12 will leave a mark that will probably stick for quite a while. Traders at Bitfinex exchange vastly reduced their leveraged bearish Bitcoin (BTC) bets and the absence of demand for shorts could have been caused by the expectation of cool inflation data.

Bears may have lacked confidence, but August’s U.S. consumer price index (CPI) came in higher than market expectations and they appear to be on the right side. The inflation index, which tracks a broad basket of goods and services, increased 8.3% over the previous year. More importantly, the energy prices component fell 5% in the same period but it was more than offset by increases in food and shelter costs.

Soon after the worse-than-expected macroeconomic data was released, U.S. equity indices took a downturn, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index futures sliding 3.6% in 30 minutes. Cryptocurrencies accompanied the worsening mood, and Bitcoin price dropped 5.7% in the same period, erasing gains from the previous three days.

Pinpointing the market downturn to a single inflationary metric would be naive. A Bank of America survey with global fund managers had 62% of respondents saying that a recession is likely, which is the highest estimate since May 2020. The research paper collected data on the week of Sept. 8 and was led by strategist Michael Hartnett.

Interestingly, as all of this takes place, Bitcoin margin traders have never been so bullish, according to one metric.

Margin traders flew away from bearish positions

Margin trading allows investors to leverage their positions by borrowing stablecoins and using the proceeds to buy more cryptocurrency. On the other hand, when those traders borrow Bitcoin, they use the coins as collateral for shorts, which means they are betting on a price decrease.

That is why some analysts monitor the total lending amounts of Bitcoin and stablecoins to understand whether investors are leaning bullish or bearish. Interestingly, Bitfinex margin traders entered their highest leverage long/short ratio on Sept. 12.

Bitfinex margin traders are known for creating position contracts of 20,000 BTC or higher in a very short time, indicating the participation of whales and large arbitrage desks.

As the above chart indicates, on Sept. 12, the number of BTC/USD long margin contracts outpaced shorts by 86 times, at 104,000 BTC. For reference, the last time this indicator flipped above 75, and favored longs, was on Nov. 9, 2021. Unfortunately, for bulls, the result benefited bears as Bitcoin nosedived 18% over the next ten days.

Derivatives traders were overly excited in November 2021

To understand how bullish or bearish professional traders are positioned, one should analyze the futures basis rate. That indicator is also known as the futures premium, and it measures the difference between futures contracts and the current spot market at regular exchanges.

The three-month futures typically trade with a 5% to 10% annualized premium, which is deemed an opportunity cost for arbitrage trading. Notice how Bitcoin investors were paying excessive premiums for longs (buys) during the rally in November 2021, the complete opposite of the current situation.

On Sept. 12, the Bitcoin futures contracts were trading at a 1.2% premium versus regular spot markets. Such a sub-2% level has been the norm since Aug. 15, leaving no doubts regarding traders’ lack of leverage buying activity.

Related: This week’s Ethereum Merge could be the most significant shift in crypto’s history

Possible causes of the margin lending ratio spike

Something must have caused short margin traders at Bitfinex to reduce their positions, especially considering that the longs (bulls) remained flat across the 7 days leading to Sept. 12. The first probable cause is liquidations, meaning the sellers had insufficient margin as Bitcoin gained 19% between Sept. 6 and Sept….