Open interest is building fastest in these markets

Open interest is expanding at an extraordinary pace across a basket of smaller-cap derivatives markets, with CONL leading the charge at +226.9% over the last 24 hours. This explosive buildup reflects fresh leverage entering the market, but the character of that leverage—whether bullish or bearish—varies sharply depending on funding rates and recent liquidation flow. Understanding which coins are attracting long versus short leverage is essential for assessing whether these rallies are built on fragile positioning or sustainable accumulation.

Key takeaways

• CONL has posted the largest 24-hour open interest spike at +226.9%, reaching $363,957 in total notional, yet neutral funding at 0.00% suggests balanced long-short entry rather than crowded unidirectional leverage.
• BANK shows the second-largest surge at +86.4% in 24 hours and +749.4% over seven days, paired with an elevated leverage risk score of 80 and a historically low funding percentile of 1, signaling shorts dominate but remain underpaid relative to longs.
• AVAAI's funding rate of 89.47% and funding percentile of 93 mark the most stretched long-heavy environment across the dataset, despite moderate OI growth of +45.2% in 24 hours.
• ACE and TLM show the inverse picture: -43.52% and -714.56% funding rates respectively, placing both in the bottom tier of their 90-day ranges, indicating short-heavy positioning that has attracted new long entry.

Condominium-scale leverage: CONL's explosive entry

CONL's +226.9% 24-hour open interest jump is the most dramatic signal in the dataset, though its absolute scale remains modest at $363,957 total notional. The neutrality of its funding rate—0.00%—is revealing: despite the velocity of leverage entry, neither longs nor shorts are paying premiums to each other. This balanced funding, sitting at the midpoint (funding percentile of 50) of its 90-day distribution, suggests that fresh leverage is flowing to both sides equally rather than piling into a crowded directional bet.

The seven-day OI increase of +393.1% reinforces the narrative of building volatility and trader interest, but the low leverage risk score of 27 indicates the market has not yet developed structural fragility. This is textbook early-stage momentum: high absolute growth rate, low concentration risk.

BANK's twin signals: extreme growth and historical undershooting

BANK presents a more complex story. Its 24-hour OI increase of +86.4% sits comfortably in the middle of the field, but the seven-day change of +749.4% reveals sustained, aggressive accumulation. Total open interest stands at $51.5M, making BANK one of the larger books in this cohort.

The funding picture, however, flags a critical imbalance. At 8.65% annualized, BANK's funding is decidedly positive—longs are paying shorts. Yet its funding percentile of 1 indicates this is at the extreme low end of its recent range, meaning shorts have historically paid more. This inversion creates an asymmetric environment: shorts have dominated entry, yet they remain underpaid relative to their own recent precedent.

At a funding percentile of 1, BANK's positive funding is historically depressed—shorts control entry but lack their usual rate compensation.

The leverage risk score of 80 is the second-highest in the dataset, reinforcing that while shorts are accumulating, the market's absolute leverage concentration is becoming fragile.

AVAAI and ARIA: long-heavy conditions at different scales

AVAAI stands out as the most stretched long market in the dataset, with an annualized funding rate of 89.47% and a funding percentile of 93. This means longs are paying shorts at nearly double the annualized deposit rate—an extreme premium—and this premium sits in the top 93rd percentile of AVAAI's last 90 days. Fresh leverage of +45.2% in 24 hours is entering a market already saturated with long positioning, raising the tail risk of a forced unwind.

ARIA shows a gentler version of the same pattern: 22.42% funding at the 81st percentile, with +44.5% 24-hour OI growth and a moderate leverage risk score of 44. Both coins signal long crowding, but AVAAI's intensity is several degrees higher.

Inverse markets: ACE and TLM's short-flush

ACE and TLM tell the mirror-image story. ACE's funding rate of -43.52% places it at funding percentile 4—shorts are paying longs at an extreme discount, historically rare. Fresh leverage of +52.2% in 24 hours is entering into this short-dominated state, likely reflecting long traders exploiting the depressed short funding and attempting to cover the short skew.

TLM's -714.56% funding rate is the dataset's most extreme figure, anchored at funding percentile 6. Despite a modest OI increase of +42.5% in 24 hours, the sheer magnitude of the negative funding indicates a historical breakdown in short supply or a massive liquidation flush of short positions. The leverage risk score of 64 suggests structural stress, though the slower 24-hour OI growth hints the acute squeeze may have already begun to stabilize.

What would change this read

The current narrative—explosive OI growth coupled with bifurcated funding extremes—would pivot if: open interest reversals accelerated (negative OI changes over 24h), funding rates normalized toward their 90-day medians (AVAAI dropping materially below 89.47%, TLM rising above -714.56%), or liquidation imbalance spiked asymmetrically, signaling forced unwinds. As long as leverage risk scores climb and funding percentiles remain at the tails, the market is pricing in sustained directional conviction rather than mean reversion.

*Analysis generated from Quantority's live cross-exchange data pipeline. Descriptive market data, not a trade recommendation.*