Sui Derivatives: 39.6% OI Surge Meets a $7.4M Liquidation Skew

Sui derivatives are carrying $899.8M in open interest after a 39.6% 24-hour expansion, yet the liquidation tape is not balanced: $5.7M of shorts were forced out versus $1.8M of longs. That combination points to a crowded upside chase with meaningful downside fragility if the current momentum stalls. Market commentary is focused on Sui consolidating beneath a major moving-average threshold and debating its next directional break.

OI growth is broad, but concentration matters

The exchange breakdown shows that positioning is not being built at just one venue. Gate holds the largest reported share at 19.1%, with $171.8M of OI and a 46.6% daily increase. Binance follows with 17.9% and $160.8M, up 29.4%, while Bybit accounts for 11.8% and $106.0M after a stronger 41.4% rise. Bitget contributes another 7.6%, or $68.2M, with OI up 21.9%.

The largest four venues therefore combine heavy exposure with mostly double-digit expansion. Gate is the most aggressive of the major reported books on a four-hour view, up 13.8%, followed by Bybit at 9.1%, Binance at 5.5% and Bitget at 2.3%. This matters for liquidation skew: fresh leverage is distributed across several venues, but the fastest growth is concentrated where short squeezes can also attract additional late longs.

Funding is positive across the core venues

The funding rate snapshot reinforces the cost of crowded longs. Binance, Bybit, Gate and OKX each show 0.01%, while Bitget is lower at 0.0055%. Hyperliquid is at 0.00681%, and Coinbase is at 0.0046%. The cross-venue spread is not extreme, but the direction is consistent: most liquid books are charging longs rather than paying them.

The ticker’s average funding is 0.011577% for the eight-hour interval, while basis is negative at -0.1%, with an annualized basis of -42.2%. Positive funding alongside negative basis suggests the perpetual market is paying up for immediate long exposure even as broader futures pricing remains discounted. That is a less stable form of bullishness than a clean, cash-led repricing.

Liquidations and positioning disagree

The liquidation windows show a persistent short-side squeeze. In the latest hour, shorts accounted for $326.7K of the $326.8K total, while the four-hour window recorded $2.5M in short liquidations against $405.5K for longs. Over 12 hours, the split widened to $3.6M for shorts and $989.3K for longs. Across 24 hours, short liquidations were more than three times long liquidations.

The biggest recorded events were also short liquidations: $468.2K at $1.0178 and $378.4K at $1.0283 on Hyperliquid. A separate Binance short liquidation was $142.9K at $0.9382. These levels are useful stress markers because they show where upside leverage was already forced out, rather than simply where traders claim to be positioned.

That squeeze sits against a sharp long/short divergence. Long accounts make up 71.6% overall; at Binance, Bybit, Bitget and Gate they represent 70.3%, 75.3%, 78.8% and 66.7%, respectively. But taker flow is less confident: Binance takers are 52.8% short, while Gate takers are 77.0% short. OKX is the exception, with 53.0% long takers. In other words, passive account positioning is bullish, but aggressive execution is leaning into resistance or hedging the rally.

Verdict: The immediate signal remains squeeze-positive while SUI holds above $1.0178, but the trade is vulnerable because OI has already reached $899.8M and account longs dominate. A sustained move above the $1.0283 liquidation marker with OI holding near $899.8M would favor continuation; a break below $1.0178 accompanied by a clear contraction from $899.8M would invalidate that view and confirm that crowded longs, not trapped shorts, are becoming the liquidation fuel. Data as of 21:05 Beijing time on Sep 21, covering Binance, OKX, Bybit and other major venues.