The intuition
Volume counts trades; open interest counts live positions. Every open contract still has a long and a short in the market. The number itself matters less than its change: a price move on rising open interest means fresh money is backing it (conviction); the same move on falling open interest is an unwind — positions closing, not new bets. That distinction is what makes open interest worth watching.
price up + OI up = new longs · price up + OI down = short covering The four combinations of price direction and open-interest change separate conviction from unwinds. vyx exposes oi, its candle-to-candle change oiDelta, and the percentage change oiDeltaPct, so a formula can require fresh positioning rather than a hollow move.
oiDeltaPct >= 1 && absImb >= 30 vyx tracks open interest and its change live across 300+ Hyperliquid perpetuals. oiDeltaPct >= 1 && absImb >= 30 finds new positioning building into a one-sided book; count(oiDelta > 0, 5) >= 5 flags five straight candles of position growth.
- 1 A perp breaks higher. You check open interest.
- 2 Open interest is rising with the move — new longs are backing the breakout (conviction).
- 3 If open interest were falling instead, the same up-move would be short covering, a squeeze that often fades once shorts are out.
Open interest does not tell you which way price goes — it tells you whether a move is backed by new positioning or is an unwind. Read it alongside funding (crowding), CVD (aggression), and price. Hyperliquid has no public market-wide liquidation feed, so open-interest change is the cleanest read on positioning shifts.
Further reading
Related
FAQ
What is the difference between open interest and volume?
Volume is how many contracts traded in a period; open interest is how many positions are currently open. Volume can be high while open interest is flat, so they answer different questions.
Does rising open interest mean price goes up?
No. Rising open interest means new positions are opening, regardless of direction. Pair it with price: up-price with rising OI is new longs; up-price with falling OI is short covering.
How does vyx track open interest?
vyx streams open interest and its candle-to-candle change (`oiDelta`, `oiDeltaPct`) live from the Hyperliquid feed across 300+ markets, so you can scan where positioning is building or unwinding.
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