Traders betting on SKR to fall are paying an unusually steep penalty fee to hold their trades. Over ten straight minutes, this fee stayed deeply negative as downward bets crowded the market.
Imagine SKR is trading around $0.0224. Suddenly, a massive wave of traders rushes in to bet that the price will collapse. Almost nobody is willing to take the other side and bet on a price rise.
Across ten continuous minutes, the cost for downward traders stayed extreme. The fee rate opened at -0.0697% and remained heavily tilted, ending at -0.0673%, while the price hovered near $0.0223.
Crypto markets use a balancing fee called the funding rate. When far too many people bet downward (short), they must pay a cash fee directly to the traders betting upward (long) every few hours just to keep their positions open.
A single spike can be noise, but ten alerts in a row show sustained desperation. Downward traders are so determined to keep their bets alive that they are willing to bleed cash continuously just to stay in the trade.
This does not guarantee SKR will drop or rise. The crowded downward bets could push the price lower, or a sudden price bounce could force trapped short sellers to close all at once, sparking a rapid rally.
Do not think a negative fee means an instant crash. Think of it as an overcrowded bus leaning heavily to one side. The trade is expensive to hold, making the market fragile and prone to violent moves.