Traders are taking bold risks, driving the price of DOGE sharply higher, even as the market leader bitcoin's rally stalls, with the token's price rising nearly 10% over the past week to briefly exceed 11 cents before settling near $0.105. The surge in open interest to a yearly peak of 15.36 billion tokens suggests that new money is entering the market, rather than old positions being closed, which reinforces the prevailing bullish trend in DOGE but also leaves the market more vulnerable to sharp liquidations if momentum reverses. The rise in spot price and futures open interest is attributed to various factors, including large holders adding over 500 million DOGE, the listing of a physically backed ETP, and positive Grayscale flows.
Market observers believe that several catalysts, including on-chain activity and retail narratives, are contributing to the demand for the token, which has historically traded like an attention-driven macro meme, with positioning accelerating quickly when traders believe a familiar catalyst is back in play.