According to @KobeissiLetter, net VIX futures positioning among asset managers declined to negative 36.6 million US dollars, the lowest since August 2024 [source: The Kobeissi Letter, Jan 15, 2026 tweet]. Excluding July and August 2024, this is the lowest reading in at least nine years, indicating an extreme positioning against volatility by institutional investors per the source [source: The Kobeissi Letter, Jan 15, 2026 tweet]. The source frames this as institutions betting against market volatility, a signal traders can track when calibrating risk exposure across assets [source: The Kobeissi Letter, Jan 15, 2026 tweet]. The post provides no crypto-specific metrics, but the cross-asset volatility context is relevant for cryptocurrency market monitoring and positioning decisions [source: The Kobeissi Letter, Jan 15, 2026 tweet].

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.