Crypto leverage shifts to traditional assets as bets hit $9bn

Outstanding perpetual futures positions tied to stocks, commodities and other traditional assets have climbed from almost nothing to $9 billion over the past year, even as the broader market for leveraged crypto bets has contracted. Economic Times Markets reported on October 17, citing Talos data covering five major trading venues, that these contracts now represent about 14% of total open interest.

Across those venues, overall perpetual futures open interest fell to roughly $67 billion from $81 billion a year earlier. The figures measure outstanding positions, rather than trading volume, and show a change in what traders are betting on—not a return to the market’s previous scale.

Traditional assets gain as token positions shrink

Bitcoin perpetuals lost about $8 billion in open interest over the period. Ether contracts shed another $5 billion, while positions in smaller tokens declined by roughly $10 billion. Growth in traditional-asset contracts offset only part of that retreat.

Samar Sen, head of international markets at Talos, described the changing composition as a structural development: infrastructure built for digital-asset trading is increasingly providing exposure to conventional financial assets. In his assessment, assets outside crypto could become a larger source of future growth as the two markets become more closely connected.

Leverage remains below pre-crash levels

The comparison comes a year after the October 10, 2025 market crash, when about $19 billion in leveraged perpetual futures bets were liquidated within 24 hours. The report described that episode as one of crypto’s largest deleveraging events.

Leveraged activity remained subdued despite a crypto price recovery that began in August 2026. Higher interest rates, geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over US crypto legislation continued to weigh on investors. Bitcoin fell about 2% to around $81,700 on Thursday.

In a recent report cited by the outlet, QCP’s head of ALM, Yuan Rong Tan, characterised the market as a standoff: rates, delays surrounding CLARITY legislation and Middle East risks were pressing on prices, while exchange-traded fund demand and investor risk appetite were absorbing that pressure.

Alpaca chief executive Yoshi Yokokawa offered a related explanation for the quieter market, arguing that the asset class’s maturation makes a repeat of its earlier speculative intensity less likely. The reported figures nevertheless show that demand for leveraged exposure has not vanished; some of it has moved towards assets beyond digital tokens.