Daily Crypto Briefs 
CHICAGO, August 10, 2026
Leveraged funds held a net short of 36,200 BTC in standard CME Bitcoin futures as of Aug. 4, a position worth roughly $2.35 billion at Bitcoin near $65,000 and up 1,835 BTC from the previous week, according to the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
The CFTC’s Friday release showed the funds held 11,483 short contracts and 4,243 long contracts in the five-bitcoin CME product. The 7,240-contract difference is a net figure, rather than the value of every position in the category, and the public report does not identify traders or their full portfolios.
Bitcoin was near $65,149 in the market snapshot reviewed for this report, close to the mid-$65,000 range it held after the July jobs report. The token’s market value was about $1.31 trillion and the Crypto Fear and Greed Index read 30, or Fear, following a volatile month for risk assets.
Bitcoin
BTCThe Commission says COT classifications are based on a trader’s reported “predominant business purpose”. That makes the leveraged-funds line a useful measure of one regulated futures book, but not a direct declaration that hedge funds expect Bitcoin to fall.
The latest reading is distinct from CME’s move to 24/7 crypto futures and options trading. That launch expanded access to the venue; the new CFTC report shows how a reported participant category was positioned after the expanded schedule began.
CME Bitcoin Futures Net Short Reaches 36,200 BTC
The standard CME Bitcoin futures contract represents five BTC. Multiplying the 7,240-contract net short by that contract size produces 36,200 BTC, or about $2.35 billion using the market snapshot price. The notional conversion is an estimate for scale, not the funds’ cost basis, profit and loss, or margin requirement.
The prior COT report, dated July 28, showed 10,168 short contracts and 3,295 long contracts for leveraged funds. That left a net short of 6,873 contracts, or 34,365 BTC. The new report therefore widened the standard-contract net short by 367 contracts.
Both sides grew. Funds added 1,315 gross short contracts and 948 gross long contracts from the earlier report. The difference between those changes, not a collapse in long exposure, accounts for the 367-contract increase in the net short.
The CFTC release reported 20,143 open standard CME Bitcoin futures contracts across all trader categories. The leveraged-funds category’s 11,483 shorts and 4,243 longs should not be added to arrive at market-wide net exposure because every futures short has an offsetting long held elsewhere in the market.
The numbers arrive as Bitcoin tries to stabilize around $65,000 after moving above $66,500 in late July and below $63,000 in early August. Daily Crypto Briefs’ report on Bitcoin holding $65,000 after the weak U.S. jobs data covered the macro shift that preceded this positioning snapshot.
CFTC Report Shows More Shorts and More Longs
The COT report is measured on Tuesday and normally released on Friday, according to the CFTC’s release schedule. The report reviewed here reflects positions at the close of Aug. 4, not trades placed after that date or live exchange data on Aug. 10.
For the standard CME contract, the report also listed 1,695 leveraged-fund spreading positions. A spread can involve offsetting futures contracts rather than a simple bet on whether Bitcoin rises or falls, and it is reported separately from outright long and short columns.
That detail is important when translating positioning into a market story. A fund can be short CME futures while holding spot Bitcoin, a Bitcoin ETF, a call option, another crypto derivative, or a related instrument. It can also be running a cash-and-carry trade that captures the difference between spot and futures prices rather than expressing a negative view on Bitcoin.
The Commission’s COT overview says the data are supplied by reporting firms and categories are subject to staff review for reasonableness. The data offer an aggregate regulatory snapshot, not a list of individual decisions.
The growth in both gross columns is therefore as notable as the wider net short. It suggests more reported activity in a contract whose exchange infrastructure now runs through weekends, but the COT table alone does not say whether new activity came from directional trading, arbitrage, client facilitation or risk hedging.
Bitcoin Futures Positioning Does Not Set a Price Forecast
The $2.35 billion figure can attract attention because it is large, but it is not a liquidation level and does not tell readers when, or whether, the category must close its contracts. Standard CME futures are centrally cleared and marked to market, while the report provides no leverage or collateral data for individual firms.
It also should not be read as a verdict on spot Bitcoin demand. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs reported $865.3 million of net inflows during the Aug. 3 through Aug. 7 week, led by BlackRock’s IBIT, in a separate market channel tracked in our latest ETF-flow update.
Futures positioning and ETF flows can point in different directions without a contradiction. One market measures derivatives positions among a CFTC reporting category, while the other measures share creations and redemptions in funds that hold Bitcoin. Price changes, funding costs and cross-market basis can connect them, but they are not the same metric.
The CME Bitcoin product page identifies the contract as a cash-settled futures product, which is another reason to distinguish it from direct ownership of coins. The CFTC report does not indicate any change in Bitcoin’s network rules, exchange availability or ETF holdings.
The next COT release is scheduled for Aug. 14 and will show positions as of Aug. 11. Until then, the confirmed update is narrow: leveraged funds’ reported net short in standard CME Bitcoin futures increased to 36,200 BTC as of Aug. 4, while the reason for individual trades remains undisclosed.
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Primary sources and further reading
| Source | Title |
|---|---|
| | CFTC: Traders in Financial Futures, CME futures-only report |
| | CFTC: Commitments of Traders release schedule |
| | CFTC: Commitments of Traders reports |
| | CFTC: Commitments of Traders report overview |
| | CME Group: Bitcoin futures product page |
| | CoinMarketCap: Bitcoin market data |
| | Alternative.me: Crypto Fear and Greed Index |
Fact-checked by: Daily Crypto Briefs Fact-Check Desk
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Frequently Asked Questions
How large was the CME Bitcoin futures net short held by leveraged funds?
The CFTC's Aug. 4, 2026 report showed leveraged funds held 11,483 short and 4,243 long standard CME Bitcoin futures contracts. The difference was a net short of 7,240 contracts, or 36,200 BTC because each standard contract represents five bitcoin.
Did leveraged funds become more bearish on Bitcoin?
Their net short in standard CME Bitcoin futures increased by 367 contracts from the prior week. That is a positioning change, not proof of a directional forecast, because the CFTC category can include hedging and relative-value strategies.
When does the CFTC publish Bitcoin futures positioning?
The CFTC's Commitments of Traders report measures positions as of Tuesday and normally releases the weekly data on Friday. The latest report reviewed here was dated Aug. 4 and released on Aug. 7.
What does a CFTC leveraged-funds position show?
It shows the long and short futures positions reported for traders classified in the CFTC's leveraged-funds category. It does not reveal an individual fund's identity, cash holdings, options positions, spot exposure or the reason for a trade.