Crypto leverage shifts to stocks as real-world bets hit $9bn

Leveraged trading through crypto-market infrastructure is moving beyond digital tokens into stocks, commodities and other traditional assets. Open interest in perpetual futures linked to these assets has climbed from almost zero to $9 billion over the past year across five major trading venues, according to Talos data reported by Economic Times Markets on October 17.

Those contracts now represent about 14% of outstanding perpetual futures positions across the venues tracked. But their expansion has not restored the market to its earlier size: total open interest fell from approximately $81 billion to $67 billion over the same period.

The 14% figure measures the share of open interest—contracts that remain outstanding—not trading volume. It captures a change in the composition of leveraged positions rather than a broad resurgence in trading activity.

Traditional assets cushion a retreat in token bets

Bitcoin perpetual futures lost roughly $8 billion in open interest over the year. Ether contracts shed about $5 billion, while contracts linked to smaller tokens lost another $10 billion. The growth of traditional-asset contracts offset only part of those declines.

Samar Sen, head of international markets at Talos, described the changing mix as the notable development beneath the weaker overall figures. In his assessment, infrastructure built for crypto trading is increasingly serving investors seeking exposure to conventional financial assets, potentially making assets beyond crypto a more important source of future growth.

The liquidation shock still hangs over leverage

The shift follows the October 10, 2025 crypto crash, when about $19 billion in leveraged perpetual futures bets were liquidated within 24 hours. Leverage has remained restrained despite a recovery in crypto prices beginning in August 2026.

Higher interest rates, geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over US crypto legislation continue to weigh on the market. Bitcoin fell roughly 2% to around $81,700 on Thursday, according to the report.

Yuan Rong Tan, head of asset and liability management at QCP, characterised conditions in a recent report as a balance between opposing pressures. Rates, delays surrounding the CLARITY legislation and Middle East risks were weighing on prices, while exchange-traded fund demand and investors’ willingness to take risk were helping absorb that pressure.

A different kind of crypto market

The market participants cited see the changing contract mix alongside a longer process of institutional adoption and closer connections with Wall Street. Those developments have widened mainstream access to crypto while tempering some of its earlier speculative character.

Alpaca chief executive Yoshi Yokokawa suggested that a more mature asset class may no longer produce the same intensity of speculative activity seen in earlier cycles. That assessment does not signal an end to leverage: the Talos figures show that some of the demand is instead finding a different underlying asset.