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Bitcoin’s Derivatives Market Cools Amid Speculation of Sovereign Selling

Bitcoin’s derivatives market is showing signs of a slowdown as funding rates have dropped significantly, suggesting a decrease in leveraged long positions. This shift is happening alongside growing speculation that the government of Bhutan may be preparing to sell a portion of its substantial Bitcoin reserves.

According to Glassnode data, Bitcoin’s perpetual futures funding rates have fallen below 0.01%, indicating that traders are becoming less bullish and scaling back their speculative bets. While this reduces the risk of a “long squeeze,” it also points to a more cautious market sentiment after a period of high-leverage trading.

The speculation surrounding Bhutan was triggered by a recent report from Arkham Intelligence, which noted a $59 million transfer of BTC from the government’s wallet to a Binance-linked address. Although the country still holds over $1.2 billion in Bitcoin, the timing and destination of the transfer have led to concerns about a potential supply shock from a sovereign holder.

At the time of the report, Bitcoin was trading around $116,500, down 0.85% for the session. Technical indicators like the RSI and MACD suggest a potential short-term pullback, with resistance at $118,000 and support around $114,000. The current market environment reflects a mix of unwinding leveraged positions and caution driven by the unexpected moves from a major sovereign holder.

August 2025, Cryptoniteuae

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Vaibhavv Ali
Vaibhavv Ali

Vaibhavv Ali is the founder and editor of Cryptonite (cryptonite.ae), an independent digital-asset news and analysis publication with a UAE focus. He covers virtual-asset regulation — VARA, ADGM and the UAE Central Bank — alongside real-world-asset tokenization, stablecoins and agentic AI in finance. Every Cryptonite article is human-edited and its sources are linked. He is also a celebrated speaker and host.

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