Shiba Inu is sending mixed signals to the market. The meme coin's price has dropped 7.06% over the last 24 hours, trading around $0.00000595 at the time of writing. Open interest dropped 5%, with only 9.9 trillion SHIB, valued at $62.79 million, remaining locked in futures contracts. The divergence between price and open interest raises questions about the strength of the current recovery.
The drop in open interest suggests that market participants are closing positions rather than opening new ones. Traders appear cautious, unwilling to make fresh leveraged bets on SHIB's direction.
Exchange Activity Points to Gate as Dominant Player
A breakdown of SHIB futures activity reveals concentration on select platforms. Gate exchange leads all competitors, accounting for 35.11% of total Shiba Inu open interest. Traders on Gate have committed $22.05 million to SHIB futures contracts, making it the most active venue for the asset's derivatives market.
LBank follows with 14.63% of total open interest. OX and Bitget trail closely with 14.08% and 10.41% respectively. The distribution highlights that SHIB futures activity remains fragmented across multiple platforms, with no single exchange dominating beyond Gate's lead. This spread can complicate price discovery and may contribute to the volatility SHIB has experienced in recent sessions.
The concentration of bullish sentiment on Gate is notable. It suggests that optimism about SHIB's near-term trajectory is not uniformly shared across trading platforms. Investors monitoring directional bias should factor in this exchange-level data when assessing market sentiment.
Technical Barriers Continue to Suppress SHIB Recovery
Price action for Shiba Inu remains technically constrained. SHIB has been unable to close above its 26-day exponential moving average (EMA), a resistance level that has held firm for more than three weeks. The failure to break this barrier keeps the meme coin locked within a broader downtrend.
The price structure reinforces the bearish outlook. SHIB continues to print lower highs and lower lows, a classic pattern signaling sustained selling pressure. Each attempted rally has been met with resistance, and the current move higher has not yet shown the momentum needed to change this structure.
Adding to investor concern, approximately 549 billion SHIB moved into exchanges during the week. Large exchange inflows typically indicate that holders are preparing to sell. The event triggered bearish sentiment and prompted speculation about another wave of selling pressure in the near term.
