Bitcoin's Wild Ride: Leverage Fuels Record-Breaking Rally!

Holy smokes, folks! Bitcoin's open interest just skyrocketed to a mind-blowing $80.91 billion, smashing all previous records! It's clear as day that leverage is the secret sauce behind this epic rally.

Bitcoin (BTC) ain't messing around, hitting an all-time high of $111,970, and you better believe it's thanks to some serious leverage. On Thursday, May 22, the open interest on Bitcoin futures across crypto exchanges went through the roof, reaching that insane $80.91 billion mark.

Over at Binance, the heavyweight champion of derivative contracts, open interest climbed to a staggering $13.60 billion. That's the highest it's been since December 2024, folks! But hold on tight, because this rally also triggered a wild $246 million in liquidations, wiping out long and short positions across major crypto assets like a financial tsunami!

Bitcoin's price has been on fire, soaring 8.46% since the start of the week. But get this: during that same time, open interest shot up by a whopping 23%! That's nearly triple the rate of Bitcoin's price increase. It's like a neon sign flashing, "Leverage is driving this party, not your average Joe's retail interest!"

Institutions and Retail: Who's Really Behind Bitcoin's Growth?

Here's the kicker: while Bitcoin's price is going nuts, search interest for the king of crypto is actually taking a nosedive. Google Trends shows a major drop in searches for "Bitcoin" since November. We're talking a measly score of 22 compared to a blazing 100 back in May 2021, when BTC took a 50% hit in the blink of an eye.

Even during the November rally, Bitcoin's search volume only peaked at a lukewarm 64. So what gives? Even with Donald Trump's win in the U.S. elections, it looks like retail investors aren't as hyped as they were during the 2021 crash.

Here's the hot take: it's the big dogs, the institutional investors, who are betting big on Bitcoin. Trump's election victory and his pro-crypto stance have given Bitcoin the credibility boost it needed among these heavy hitters. It's like a whole new ballgame, folks!