The price of DOGE has risen sharply, increasing by nearly 10% over the past week, with traders taking on more risk and pushing the token's price higher, even as the bitcoin rally stalls. The rise in open interest in DOGE futures to 15.36 billion tokens, the highest level this year, suggests that more traders are seeking leveraged plays, indicating a strong risk sentiment in the market. The token's price has climbed to nearly $0.11 before settling at around $0.105, according to CoinDesk data.
The increase in spot price and futures open interest indicates that new investors are entering the market, rather than existing positions being closed, which reinforces the prevailing bullish trend in DOGE. However, this also leaves the market more vulnerable to sharp liquidations if the momentum reverses.
Major exchanges such as Binance, Bitget, Bybit, and OKX account for a significant portion of the open interest, with each holding over 1 billion DOGE. The rally in DOGE comes after weeks of sideways trading and a broader return of speculative interest in major cryptocurrencies earlier in the week. According to market observers, several factors may be contributing to the demand for the token, including large holders adding over 500 million DOGE, the listing of a physically backed ETP on Xetra, and positive Grayscale flows.
On-chain activity is also up, with active addresses increasing by 28%. The token's market structure tends to respond quickly to spot accumulation, derivatives leverage, and retail narratives. The X payments angle remains a significant factor, although the announced product does not indicate support for dogecoin or any crypto functionality.
Despite this, traders may be reacting to payments-related developments at Musk-owned companies, hoping that the token could eventually be integrated into X's financial stack, given Musk's vocal support for dogecoin since 2021.