Shiba Inu Open Interest Jumps As Whales Quietly Accumulate SHIB

Shiba Inu is trading in a tightly wound setup as derivatives activity rises, whale positioning turns more aggressive, and price remains capped below a key macro resistance zone. The meme coin’s short-term indicators have improved, but leverage is increasingly driving the structure beneath the surface.

SHIB is currently roughly 17% below its 200-day moving average and still locked inside a broader downtrend. Year to date, the asset remains down 24.6%, while its annual decline stands at 54.15%. That macro backdrop is difficult to ignore.

Yet the near-term picture is less one-sided. SHIB gained 1.7% over 24 hours, while its RSI sat at a neutral 54.45 and the 24-hour MACD flashed bullish. Weekly performance was nearly flat at 0.1%, but that lack of directional movement came as derivatives activity expanded sharply, suggesting positioning is building before price has made a decisive move.

Shiba Inu Leverage Builds While Spot Volume Fades

The key shift is in open interest. SHIB’s open interest climbed to $37.63 million, up 15.73% over the week, even as 24-hour spot volume fell 11.49% to $32.99 million. That divergence points to a market where futures traders are becoming more active while spot participation remains subdued.

As Alphractal AI’s report framed it, “This divergence creates a leveraged consolidation environment where price coils while futures positions build. The OI-to-Market Cap ratio of 1.024% indicates moderate leverage saturation relative to SHIB’s float, leaving headroom for expansion before systemic risk escalates.”

That matters because SHIB’s $3.67 billion market capitalization is not yet being matched by a surge in spot velocity. Instead, derivatives appear to be carrying more of the price-discovery burden. For meme assets, that can turn quiet ranges into unstable structures: price may look flat, but positioning can become increasingly crowded.

The long-short ratio sits at 1.694, showing a bullish skew among futures traders without yet reaching euphoric levels. Liquidations remain minimal, with only $9.4K cleared over the past day, mostly from long positions at $6.2K. In other words, the leverage buildup has not yet been flushed.

Whales Lean In As Retail Steps Back

The more constructive signal comes from large-holder behavior. The Whale vs. Retail Delta stands at 1.875, indicating that whales are accumulating more aggressively while retail exposure weakens. Combined with a Top Trader Sentiment score of 2.74, the data suggests more sophisticated market even as smaller traders reduce risk.