Price alone is incomplete.
Open Interest (OI) reveals participation.
Price reveals outcome.
When price rises and OI rises — new longs are entering.
When price rises and OI falls — shorts are closing.
When price drops and OI rises — new shorts are building.
When price drops and OI falls — longs are exiting.
But the real insight appears at extremes.
If OI expands aggressively into resistance, positioning becomes vulnerable.
If OI spikes into support, exposure concentrates.
Professionals don’t just ask,
“Is price breaking?”
They ask,
“Who just committed?”
Because once commitment becomes crowded,
price no longer needs continuation —
it needs imbalance.
Retail sees breakout.
Institutions see exposure.
When you combine price action with positioning data,
you stop guessing direction
and start identifying vulnerability.
And vulnerability is where large moves are born.