The near month contract expiring on January 17, 2018, witnessed a steady rise in open interest (OI) accompanied by a price correction of almost 27 per cent to $13960 a contract (1 contract equals one bitcoin) last week. A rise in OI along with steep price correction is indicative of traders mounting huge bearish bets on a traded contract.
Though refraining to comment on the bitcoin itself, Rajesh Palviya, derivatives head at Axis Securities, said, "The signs (jump in OI and price fall) point to a corrective trend."