Bitcoin Buyers Take Control on Binance, But Funding Rates Flash a Warning

The Bitcoin market appears to have resumed its upward momentum, with BTC’s price trading above the psychological $90,000 level as it reclaims major highs. As of today, BTC has been able to surge as high as $94,32 before now retracing to a current price of $93,473, marking a 3.1% increase in the past day.

A deeper look into market behavior reveals that activity on Binance, one of the leading crypto exchanges by volume, may be playing an outsized role in shaping Bitcoin’s short-term price direction.

Particularly, a CryptoQuant analyst has noted an uptick in aggressive market buying behavior, where participants are executing immediate purchase orders rather than passively waiting in the order book.

This form of execution, often tied to increased market conviction, has become more pronounced on Binance and may help explain Bitcoin’s recent surge.

Binance Taker Activity Suggests Buyers Are Leading the Market

According to CryptoQuant analyst Crazzyblockk, a significant rise in the taker buy/sell ratio on Binance has been observed, signaling a surge in aggressive buy-side activity. Over the past 30 days, the ratio has increased by 18.9%, while the 7-day ratio has climbed 6.2%.

These figures suggest that traders on Binance are entering the market with urgency, placing market buy orders to immediately match sell offers, often a sign of growing buyer confidence.

This activity highlights Binance’s growing role in short-term price discovery. When taker-driven momentum is concentrated on a single exchange, it can shape wider market direction through spillover effects.

The analyst wrote:

The taker buy/sell ratio isn’t just a reflection of who’s buying or selling—it’s a real-time indicator of conviction and pressure, and right now, it’s telling a clear story: buyers are in control, and Binance is the arena where that dominance is playing out most decisively. For those tracking market structure and looking for early signals of momentum, this is a metric that should not be overlooked.

Bitcoin Funding Rates Reflect Trader Disbelief Despite Price Gains

While order book data shows rising buy-side activity, Bitcoin derivatives metrics tell a different story. In a separate analysis, CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost pointed out that funding rates on Binance have turned negative, currently sitting at approximately -0.006.

This metric, which reflects the cost of holding long versus short positions in perpetual futures contracts, typically turns negative when short positions are more crowded than longs, indicating that many traders expect a price decline.

Darkfost noted that this disconnect between rising spot prices and negative funding rates mirrors past instances where Bitcoin later experienced extended rallies. Specifically, similar setups occurred in October 2023 and September 2024, both of which preceded sharp price increases.

If historical patterns hold, the current level of skepticism in the derivatives market may contribute to further upside, as short-sellers may eventually be forced to unwind positions.

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView