How to Analyze Contract Data?
1. Open Interest and Trading Volume
Open Interest: The total positions of all futures markets across the platform within a particular period.
Trading Volume: The total number/value of contracts traded across all futures markets during the same period.
By comparing open interest and trading volume data, we can assess the position liquidation/closure dynamics of the current market. If the trading volume rises while the open interest decreases during the same period, it indicates that a significant number of positions have been closed or liquidated. In contrast, when both trading volume and open interest rise simultaneously, it signals a strong market activity in building new positions.
2. Liquidation Data
When trading futures contracts, investors are required to maintain a certain percentage of the position's value as margins to keep the position open, known as the Maintenance Margin.
Forced liquidation happens when the position margin falls below the required level. This typically reflects heightened market volatility or overly aggressive sentiment.
3. Taker Buy/Sell Volume
Take Buy Volume: The total volume of Buy orders filled by Takers, i.e. capital inflow volume.
Take Sell Volume: The total volume of Sell orders filled by Takers, i.e. capital outflow volume.
Understanding the buy/sell volumes is essential for gauging the market demand and selling pressure. A large buy volume indicates a strong bullish sentiment in the market, while a high sell volume suggests a significant bearish sentiment, with many traders going short.
4. Individual Trader Long/Short Ratio (Position)
After excluding positions held by market makers, the total value of long and short positions in futures markets is always equal. A 150% Long/Short Ratio means the number of long positions is 1.5 times that of short positions. This suggests that there are fewer individuals (mainly institutional traders) on the short side, but the average position size per individual is larger. Conversely, there are more individuals (mainly retail traders) on the long side, but the average position size per individual is smaller.
5. Avg. Basis Rate
The average basis rate refers to the numerical result obtained by averaging the basis rates of all perpetual contract pairs on CoinEx after weighting. First, the basis rates for all contract pairs are weighted according to their open interest, and the weighted average basis rate is calculated by dividing the sum of the weighted basis rates for all pairs by the sum of the open interest for all pairs.
The basis rate is an indicator for determining the price trend of the futures market relative to the spot market:
A positive and increasing basis rate indicates a greater premium of futures to spot prices, signaling a bullish sentiment in the market.
A negative and decreasing basis rate indicates a greater discount of futures to spot prices, reflecting a bearish sentiment in the market.
6. Avg. Funding Rate
Avg. Funding Rate = Net Funding Fee / Total position value of all Futures markets when funding fees are charged, where Net Funding Fee = The sum of funding fees paid each time in all Futures markets; more long than short is positive, more short than long is negative, calculated in USD.
The funding rate is an indicator for measuring overall sentiment in the perpetual contract market:
A positive and rising funding rate indicates that long position holders are paying short position holders, suggesting a bullish sentiment in the market.
A negative and decreasing funding rate indicates that short position holders are paying long position
holders, reflecting a bearish sentiment in the market.
7. Long / Short Ratio (Account)
Long / Short Ratio (Account): The proportion of net long accounts to the net short accounts at a specific time.
With Long / Short Ratio (Account), we can understand the trading tendencies of retail traders and institutional investors. In Futures, the total value of long and short positions is always equal. A 150% Long / Short Ratio means the number of long accounts is 1.5 times that of short accounts, which suggests that short traders are mainly institutional investors who hold heavy positions, whereas long traders are mostly retail investors with small positions.
8. Top Trader Long / Short Ratio (Account)
Top Trader Long / Short Ratio (Account): The proportion of the net long positions to the net short positions of the top traders in this market.
Top trader refers to the top 20% traders in terms of position size in the current market, and each account is counted once, regardless of the position size.
In Futures trading, top traders often exhibit disciplined strategies and market sensitivity, making their positions a useful reference. However, some top traders and institutions may use futures to hedge spot positions. Therefore, we still need to conduct analyses independently.
How to View Contract Data？
1. Overall Data on Futures Trading Markets
On the “Contract Data” page, you can check the listing of Future markets, Future Traders Ranking, Promotion, Popular markets, and Contract Data.
- Web: Navigation bar > Futures > Contract Data
- App: CoinEx App > Futures > [···] icon in the top right corner > Future Overview
2. Trading Data on Futures Contracts
On the “Market Info” Page, you can check Open Interest and Trading Volume, Long/Short Ratio (Account), Taker Buy/Sell Volume, and Top Trader Long/Short Ratio (Account).
- Web: Navigation bar > Futures > Market Info > Contract Data
- App: CoinEx APP > Futures > [···] icon in the top right corner > Contract Data