LAB LAB · perps

LAB's derivatives market is in the early stages of deleveraging after a period of significant positioning unwind. Open interest has contracted sharply, falling 76.0% over seven days and a further 6.0% in the last 24 hours, signaling that traders are actively closing leveraged positions rather than adding to them. The funding rate, at 65.57% annualized, sits at the 66th percentile of its 90-day range, indicating elevated but not extreme compensation for long holders—suggesting some lingering crowding despite the recent exit activity.

The liquidation imbalance of -0.59 over 24 hours reveals a marked asymmetry, with significantly more short positions being liquidated than longs, a pattern consistent with LAB recovering from recent weakness or recovering price strength that has caught undercapitalized shorts. Against this backdrop, the leverage risk score of 18 is notably low, reflecting the substantial reduction in gross leverage and the absence of fragile, densely-stacked positioning that would signal imminent cascade risk.

Overall, LAB presents a relatively benign risk profile for derivatives traders. The combination of steep open interest decline, modest leverage headroom, and directional liquidation bias suggests the market has largely purged unsustainable leverage and is now operating from a more stable foundation. The funding rate remains elevated enough to continue attracting shorts, but the underlying positioning data shows no signs of structural fragility.