The Bullish Bitcoin Number Bets raised with borrowed funds continue to rise on Bitfinex, one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges.
Long positions on margin reached around 72,700 BTC, the highest since February 2024, according to data source TradingView. The total has increased by around 55,000 BTC since October, indicating a persistent dip buy action throughout the price decline from over $126,000 to $89,000. At one point in November, prices bottomed near $80,000 on some exchanges.
The accumulation of long exposures highlights trader confidence, even though bitcoin is on track for three consecutive monthly declines, a trend not seen since mid-2022, during the bear market.
Interestingly, the number of “long margin” bullish bets on Bitfinex has always been a contrary indicator for the market. These positions typically peak when the market is in distress, then dry up as a new uptrend begins to take hold.
In past cycles, a sustained decline in long margin positions has coincided with market lows or the early stages of a recovery. This trend was striking during the unwinding of the yen carry trade in August 2024, when bitcoin bottomed at around $49,000, coinciding with a sharp reduction in leveraged bets.
A similar dynamic played out during the tariff-induced sell-off in April 2025; As prices fell towards $75,000, the drop in long margin positions once again signaled that weaker hands had been shaken out, setting the stage for a subsequent rebound.
For now, the continued increase in leverage suggests that BTC prices have not yet bottomed.
