Traders are taking bold bets on DOGE, propelling its price upward, even as the market leader bitcoin experiences a stall in its rally. This trend is evident in the futures market, where open interest in DOGE futures has climbed to a yearly peak of 15.36 billion tokens, according to Coinglass. Open interest, which represents the number of active contracts at any given time, suggests that traders are increasingly seeking leveraged exposure to the cryptocurrency's price movements. Over the past week, DOGE's price has appreciated by nearly 10%, briefly surpassing 11 cents before settling near $0.105.
In contrast, bitcoin has retreated below $76,000 after trading above $79,000 earlier in the week. The concurrent rise in spot price and futures open interest implies that new capital is entering the market, rather than existing positions being closed, which in turn reinforces the prevailing bullish trend in DOGE. However, this also increases the market's vulnerability to sharp liquidations if the momentum reverses. Binance, Bitget, Bybit, and OKX are among the top exchanges with substantial open interest in DOGE, collectively accounting for over 6 billion tokens.
Other notable exchanges, such as Hyperliquid, MEXC, WhiteBIT, and KuCoin, also have sizable positions, indicating a broad-based movement. The rally in DOGE follows weeks of sideways trading and a resurgence of speculative interest in major cryptocurrencies earlier in the week.
According to Jordan Jefferson, founder of DogeOS and MyDoge, several factors may be contributing to the demand for DOGE, including the addition of over 500 million DOGE by large holders, the listing of a physically backed ETP on Xetra by 21Shares, and the positive flows in Grayscale after nine consecutive days of outflows. On-chain activity has also increased, with active addresses rising by 28%.
These flows are significant, as DOGE's market structure tends to respond rapidly when spot accumulation, derivatives leverage, and retail narratives align. Historically, DOGE has traded more like a macro meme, driven by attention and sentiment, rather than a payments asset. While the X payments angle remains a potential swing factor, it is the least concrete aspect of the DOGE trade. Elon Musk's announcement of X Money, a payments product with peer-to-peer transfers, bank deposits, a debit card, and cashback rewards, has sparked speculation among DOGE traders, who may be hoping that the token could eventually be integrated into X's financial stack, given Musk's past vocal support for dogecoin.