Coinbase Research Director: The so-called largest short position in ETH history is seriously exaggerated

Odaily News David Duong, head of research at Coinbase, wrote that recent claims about the largest short position in ETH in history are seriously exaggerated.
He pointed out that Ethereum spot ETFs saw net inflows of $1.16 billion in June, while leveraged fund short positions on Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Ethereum futures increased from $466 million at the beginning of May to $1.6 billion on June 24, an increase that was roughly in line with ETF inflows.
Duong explained that this phenomenon is mainly driven by basis trading. Since the basis yield provided by CME Ethereum futures compared to spot has increased from an average of 6% in February to 8%-9% in May and June, it has attracted more institutions to participate in arbitrage by buying spot and selling futures, which does not mean pessimistic expectations for ETH.