A recent enhancement has been introduced to a well-known financial charting platform, aimed at improving traders’ analysis within the cryptocurrency market. This update adds new indicators specifically for crypto futures and perpetual swaps linked to major exchanges, including Bybit, Binance, and OKX.
One of the key components introduced is the funding rate. This rate is a periodic cash flow mechanism that helps synchronize the price of perpetual futures with the underlying asset’s spot price. The calculation of the funding rate can differ between exchanges, but it generally comprises two main elements: the interest rate, which is a constant cost set by the exchange, and the premium index, which is the discrepancy between the perpetual futures price and the spot price. Funding rates may either be positive or negative, depending on the valuation of perpetual contracts. A positive funding rate indicates that perpetual contracts are priced above the spot price, causing longs to compensate shorts. Conversely, a negative rate means that perpetuals are trading below the spot price, with shorts paying longs.
In addition, traders can leverage an indicator that tracks liquidation volumes. A liquidation occurs when a leveraged position is terminated automatically because the trader’s margin dips below the maintenance margin required by the exchange. These liquidations may be recorded as standard trades within the order book, but they actually represent forced transactions triggered by the system. The new indicator categorizes liquidations into two types: buy-side liquidations (indicated in green) occur when the exchange closes short positions and buys back the asset, while sell-side liquidations (shown in red) happen when the exchange exits long positions and sells the asset.
Another critical metric introduced in this update is the long/short ratio of accounts, which provides insight into trader sentiment by illustrating the count of accounts holding long versus short positions on a given asset. This ratio only considers the direction of the positions, ignoring their volume or the number of trades. It is calculated using the number of long accounts divided by the number of short accounts, allowing traders to gauge market expectations regarding future price movements.
Additionally, the long/short accounts percentage metric indicates the distribution of traders holding long or short positions. It represents the share of traders with long positions (indicated in green) and those with short positions (represented in red), totaling 100%. This data further supports traders in forming expectations about price changes in the market.
Another important metric included in this rollout is the crypto open interest, which reflects the total outstanding futures contracts at a specific time. Depending on the exchange and the financial instrument, open interest can be presented as either the number of contracts or expressed in the base/quote currency. This metric assesses the cumulative volume of open positions and is pivotal for liquidity analysis. Open interest values can fluctuate throughout the day, and when evaluated alongside trading volume, it offers important insights for traders looking to make informed decisions.
All newly added features and indicators can be easily located in the Indicators menu under the Financials tab. Traders can simply click to access these valuable tools for enhancing their market analyses.