Analytics · Positioning
Alt Open Interest Share, explained
How much of the leveraged futures market sits in five major altcoins instead of Bitcoin, and how unusual that split is against its own history. How the share is worked out, what the 0 to 100 risk level means, and what a share of open interest can and cannot tell you.
- Measures
- Alt share
- Basket
- 5 alts
- Bars
- Weekly
- Source
- CoinGlass
of futures open interest, against Bitcoin
ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP and DOGE, fixed
US dollar open interest across exchanges
with our Altcoins/BTC line for context
What is Alt Open Interest Share?
Open interest is the total value of futures contracts still open. It shows how much leveraged positioning exists. This chart asks one question of it: how much of that positioning sits in five major altcoins, rather than in Bitcoin.
The answer is a percentage, and it moves slowly. The chart then ranks each week’s percentage against every week before it, so you can see not just the level but how unusual it is.
How the share is worked out
Each week we take the open interest, in US dollars, of Bitcoin and of five altcoins: ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP and DOGE. It is aggregated across exchanges and comes from CoinGlass. The share is the five altcoins’ total divided by that total plus Bitcoin, times 100.
The basket never changes. Computing some weeks from five coins and others from two would change what the number means halfway through its history. A week counts only if Bitcoin and all five altcoins reported a usable figure for it. A week with a missing or conflicting figure is dropped, not filled in or averaged.
The risk level, ranked 0 to 100
The share moves in a fairly narrow band, so on its own a reading is hard to judge. The chart therefore ranks each week against the weeks that came before it, including itself, and shows the result from 0 to 100. A level of 80 means the share is higher than in about 80 percent of the weeks so far.
Each week is ranked only against earlier weeks, never against later ones, so a reading looks the same today as it did the week it was published. Lines at 20 and 80 mark the unusually low and unusually high ends. “Risk” here means rarity. It is coloured on the same blue to red scale as the other risk charts, where cold is a low rank and hot is a high one.
What is on the chart
Two panes. The top pane shows our Altcoins/BTC line, the total value of altcoins against Bitcoin, with the coloured risk level and the 20 and 80 lines over it. The bottom pane shows the raw alt share itself. Each line can be switched on or off from the legend, and the Altcoins/BTC line can be shown on a log or a linear scale.
How to read it
Read the level and the rank together. The raw share says where positioning sits. The risk level says how unusual that is against the chart’s own history.
Compare it with Altcoins/BTC. Looking at how the share and the price relationship have moved together in the past is the purpose of putting them in one chart. Both describe the past, and neither says what comes next.
What the chart does not tell you
A percentile feels precise, which is when it is easiest to over-read. Five things to keep in view.
It cannot say which way positions point
Open interest counts contracts that are open, long and short alike. A high or low share says where leverage is concentrated, not whether it is betting on a rise or a fall.
The basket is fixed and small
Five altcoins stand in for "alts" and everything else is left out. The set never changes, so the history stays consistent, but it means the chart describes those five coins against Bitcoin, not the whole altcoin market.
Risk here means rarity, not danger
The 0 to 100 level says how unusual this week's share is against earlier weeks. A reading near 100 is a rare share, not a prediction that something will happen. It says nothing about direction.
Early readings rest on little history
Each week is ranked only against the weeks before it. The first weeks of the series are ranked against very few observations, so their levels are loose. The ranking firms up as history accumulates.
Futures only, and weekly
The share covers aggregated futures open interest, not spot holdings or options. Bars are weekly, so it describes slow shifts in positioning and cannot show what happened inside a week.
The chart shows how unusual the split is. It cannot show which way the positions point.
Where it fits
This is a positioning chart in the Analytics section, alongside Open Interest, Funding Rate and Long/Short Ratio. It is slow, it is weekly, and it is not an input to either Heatmeter. It is most useful as context next to the faster derivatives charts, to see where leverage has been concentrated over longer stretches.
Common questions
What is Alt Open Interest Share?
The share of futures open interest, in US dollars, held by five major altcoins (ETH, SOL, BNB, XRP and DOGE) out of those five plus Bitcoin. Each week's share is also ranked from 0 to 100 against every earlier week, so you can see how unusual it is. It is a chart to read and does not feed either Heatmeter.
What is open interest?
The total value of futures contracts that are still open, not yet closed or settled. It measures how much leveraged positioning exists, which is a different thing from how much was traded.
How is the share calculated?
Alt open interest divided by alt plus Bitcoin open interest, times 100. A week only counts if Bitcoin and all five altcoins reported a usable figure for it. A week with a missing or conflicting figure is dropped rather than filled in or averaged, so no number on the chart is a guess.
What does the risk level mean?
It is a percentile: the share of earlier weeks, including this one, that had a lower share than this week. A level of 80 means the share is higher than in about 80 percent of the weeks so far. Readings below 20 and above 80 are the rarer ones. It describes rarity and is not a forecast.
Why does the chart also show Altcoins/BTC?
For context. The line is our own Altcoins/BTC series, the total market value of altcoins against Bitcoin. Putting it beside the open interest share lets you compare how positioning and price relative strength have moved together in the past.
Is this a buy or sell signal?
No. It describes how leveraged positioning is split between five altcoins and Bitcoin. Patterns between this split and prices have shown up before, but they are historical observations and not a guide to what happens next.
Related guides
Others in market structure — How much borrowed money is in the market, which way bets are leaning, and where money is moving.
- Open InterestHow much leverage is outstanding across futures venues, and which exchanges hold it.
- Long/Short RatioHow futures traders are split between longs and shorts, for all accounts and for the largest traders.
- Buy/Sell VolumeHow much money is arriving as market orders on each side, across major futures venues.
- LiquidationsWhere leveraged positions were forcibly closed, long against short.
- Hyperliquid Whale PositionsThe largest open positions on an on-chain perpetuals exchange: who is long, who is short, and how close each sits to liquidation.
Every indicator we track — the full glossary.
Open the chart
Everything above is the method. On the chart you can see the share and its risk level week by week, compare them with Altcoins/BTC, and switch each line on or off.