Last week recorded a significant change in the price of Bitcoin, where there was a rally to the top of the charts. As of Tuesday, March 10, this move boosted the cryptocurrency tp to regain the previous psychological level of $70,000.
It is interesting to note that the price of Bitcoin will reach around $74,000 on Friday. Although this may be good for Bitcoin, if in the short term, the data from the latest evaluation of the chain has been published, leading to the dubious conclusion that Bitcoin market participants are not so enthusiastic at the moment.
Negative funding rates on Binance reveal an increase in short positions
In an X post on March 13, an analyst with the on-chain pseudonym Darkfost reveals that there is a widespread wave of cautious pessimism in the Bitcoin market despite recent highs. As noted by the crypto expert, every reversal of the price of BTC ($70,542.00 · Live) seen in March does not seem to be clear recovery movements. For this reason, Binance exchange has been showing progressive negative funding rates for almost a week, as shown by Bitcoin: Funding rates – Binance metric.
The uncertainty in the market is increasing, while Bitcoin is above 70 thousand dollars
At the moment, few investors really believe in a sustained upward recovery for BTC. The geopolitical and macroeconomic environment remains unfavorable, particularly with continued tensions surrounding the global oil trade.
In… pic.twitter.com/32UOlrzLkN
— Darkfost (@Darkfost_Coc) March 13, 2026
Darkfost notes that this is reflected in the extreme readings obtained in the Funding Rate metric, with the Funding Rate falling from -0.006 on both March 10th and 11th. According to the analyst, this significantly negative level indicates that most of the positions opened on Binance are biased to shorts, as there is a lot of doubt among investors about the sustainability of Bitcoin’s recovery in the near future.
Strong bearish emotions can trigger counter-intuitive movement
Interestingly, Darkfost cites historical data to explain that the Bitcoin market may still see strong upward momentum. This is because when most traders open clusters of short positions, they open the market to an increased possibility of short compression.
Historically, Darkfost explains that “when funding levels reach extreme levels or when a strong market consensus emerges, it’s often too late to take a position.” Therefore, in a scenario where the price of Bitcoin can maintain its recent upward movement, a short squeeze is likely to occur.
As a result, all the selling liquidity that is currently sitting above the market price of Bitcoin becomes fuel for an upward move, which in turn can lead to the liquidation of even more short positions, further strengthening the move. Therefore, market participants are advised to maintain a cautious position in their transactions.
As of press time, Bitcoin is trading at $70,852 after a 1.09% loss over the past 24 hours.
