Traders betting on SKR price drops faced unusually steep hourly fees, paying buyers up to negative 0.24 percent just to keep positions open.
Imagine SKR is trading at roughly two cents. A large wave of traders enters the market at the same time, all trying to bet that the price is about to drop.
Over ten minutes, holding those downward bets became extremely expensive. The hourly fee charged to sellers spiked to nearly negative 0.24 percent before settling around negative 0.20 percent.
This fee is called the funding rate. Crypto derivative markets use it to balance buyers and sellers. When too many traders pile into downward bets, the system forces them to pay cash directly to the buyers every hour.
Seeing this fee stay deeply negative across ten consecutive minutes signals heavy crowding. Sellers are willingly bleeding money every hour just to keep their bets active, building intense tension in the market.
A negative fee does not guarantee where price will head next. The price could fall if sellers are right, or it could snap upward if losing sellers rush to close their expensive bets.
Do not think negative funding guarantees a price collapse. Think sellers are paying a heavy recurring toll, making their bets fragile if the price starts to tick upward.