According to @KobeissiLetter citing the CFTC Commitments of Traders report, hedge funds were net short 92,786 VIX futures contracts in the week ending August 19, 2025, the largest net short since September 2022. Cboe explains that being short VIX futures benefits when equity volatility declines and is vulnerable when volatility rises, indicating funds are positioned for subdued volatility. Cboe also documents that VIX typically moves inversely to the S&P 500, while Kaiko Research reports that BTC has maintained a positive correlation with U.S. equities in 2023–2024, so crypto traders should monitor this short-vol build-up as a potential risk-on tailwind for BTC and ETH while recognizing crowding risk if volatility spikes.

According to @rovercrc, big institutions are stacking short positions in ETH and he frames this as potential fuel for the next rally via a short squeeze based on his X post and chart dated Aug 18, 2025, source: Crypto Rover on X, Aug 18, 2025. Traders should validate the claim by checking CFTC Commitments of Traders for CME Ether futures and comparing with exchange-level ETH perpetual funding and open interest before positioning, source: CFTC COT reports; CME Group market data; major exchange derivatives dashboards. A practical setup is to look for rising open interest with flat price action, funding turning negative, and visible liquidation clusters above recent highs before breakout longs, source: CME Group derivatives education; major exchange metrics. Invalidate the squeeze bias if open interest contracts while price drops and funding turns positive, indicating shorts covering rather than adding, source: CME Group derivatives concepts; major exchange metrics.