Bitcoin futures open interest has fallen to 652,000 BTC, one of the lowest levels this year, compared with a peak of 800,000 BTC at the start of the year. The decline comes despite Bitcoin gaining 40% in the third quarter, with traders continuing to avoid leveraged positions. Funding rates for perpetual futures (futures contracts without expiry dates) turned negative again, averaging -0.3% across major exchanges. That indicates short sellers are actively pursuing bearish trades and paying long holders to maintain those positions. Bitcoin fell more than 2% over the past 24 hours to about $82,800 after Trump declined to rule out further strikes against Iran before the U.S. midterm elections. Gold also declined 3% over the same period to about $4,150 an ounce.