TAO Hits $240 High: OI +8% to $352.6M, Funding Cold

TAO Perps Outrun a Flat BTC

TAO perpetual contracts traded near $237.3 on Friday evening Asia time, up about 6.9% over 24 hours. Binance and OKX both show the same range: last price around $237.2 to $237.3, session high $240.8, session low $219.4. Over that same window BTC moved less than half a percent, so this looks like a coin-specific bid rather than a broad beta push from the majors. Volume is real too, with more than $1.1 billion changing hands across the tracked perp books.

Open Interest Adds 8%, Hyperliquid Grows Fastest

Open interest across TAO venues rose 8% in 24 hours to $352.6M. MEXC still holds the largest single book at $82.9M, a 23.5% share, but its OI only inched up 2.3%. The fastest growth came from Hyperliquid, up 16.9% to $47.2M, followed by Bitget at +11.9% and Bybit at +11.4%. Binance added 10.3% to $72.8M, while OKX lagged with a slower 7.3% gain to $21.1M. KuCoin, the fifth-largest venue at $30.4M, moved just 2.3%.

The split matters. The two venues adding OI fastest, Hyperliquid and Bitget, were also the ones holding lighter books before this leg. MEXC and KuCoin, which carried the heaviest positioning from the August squeeze, stayed quiet. That is the signature of new money rotating in rather than old longs doubling down.

Funding Near Zero: Not a Leverage Frenzy

Funding rates tell the other side of the story. Binance charges 0.005% per 8 hours, OKX 0.01%, Bybit 0.005%, and Hyperliquid runs at 0.00125% per hour. The volume-weighted average across venues sits near 0.005%, far below the levels seen in past crowded squeezes. Perp holders are paying almost nothing to stay long, which usually means the rally is not yet overloaded with late leverage.

What the Setup Says Next

For traders, the notable part is the gap between price and positioning: the coin is up 6.9% while funding has not inflated. That pattern can leave room for the move to extend, but it also means fresh longs can still pile in late. Watch the $240.8 high. A clean break with OI still climbing would point to genuine demand. A stall near that level while funding flips positive would signal the crowd catching up, which historically raises the odds of a faster unwind. On the downside, the 24-hour low at $219.4 is the first real support line if the bid fades.

Data as of 21:00 Beijing time on September 5, covering Binance, OKX, Bybit, Hyperliquid, Gate, Bitget, MEXC and KuCoin among major exchanges.