DATA from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday showed that market speculators held net short position of Bitcoin futures last week.

For the week ending Sept. 17, noncommercial investors, commonly treated as market speculators, held a net short position of 1,070 Bitcoin future contracts while the total amount of the future contracts held by speculators decreased.

Commercial traders, commonly treated as hedgers, still held a net short position of 26 contracts.

Speculators and hedgers are different types of investors. Speculators try to make a profit from the assets’ price volatility, whereas hedgers attempt to reduce or “hedge” the amount of risk created by price volatility during the holding period of the assets.

When investors “short” some kind of financial assets like currencies, commodities, options or futures, they hold a bearish view on the asset and believe there will be a drop in the price.

Last week, the price of the cryptocurrency saw moderate movements near US$10,000, while its whole market value remained steady at about US$180 billion, according to trading website Coinbase.

The Bitcoin futures, traded at Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the United States, are derivative financial contracts that obligate the parties to transact an underlying asset at a predetermined future date and price.

The underlying asset of each Bitcoin future contract includes five Bitcoins.

(Xinhua)