The open interest (OI) of Bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has fallen to $8.41 billion, the lowest level in 14 months. Glassnode analysts noted that this trend is mainly driven by the unwinding of basis trades: previously, the strategy built long positions via spot ETFs and hedged the resulting futures short exposure to profit from the spread, but in recent times the annualized return has dropped from 15%-20% to around 5%, prompting institutions to take profits. In addition, the daily trading volume of CME Bitcoin futures has also shrunk to below $3 billion. Analysts believe that as institutional demand shifts toward directly holding spot assets, leverage levels in the futures market are dropping significantly.(TheBlock)