Quant Token Price Continues to Decline, Open Interest Decreases

The sharp rise of Quant (QNT) at the end of September turned into a struggle between declining purchasing power and aggressive selling. The price rose from below $100 to a high of $373.66, after which it sharply retraced as traders took profits. Upon reaching $325, buyers failed to reclaim the peak high, forming a lower high. This indicated weakening demand.

Since October 2, selling has slowly pressured the price, pushing it into the support zone of 215–220. At the time of writing, the token had fallen by 6% in a day and was trading at $219.34 – more than 72% below the September high.

The downtrend in QNT is causing increasing concern. With each bounce, volume appears to be decreasing. If the price repeatedly touches the support zones, it will exhaust all potential buy order levels. A four-hour close below $215 could trigger stop-loss selling towards 160–180 and erase most of the remaining breakout gains. However, a confident recovery above $225 after briefly dipping below support would suggest that buyers are absorbing supply. This would open up a rebound to 250–255. Until then, QNT remains vulnerable to a deeper correction.

QNT open interest falls amid leverage reduction

The rise in QNT was fueled by a surge in positions in the derivatives market. Now, falling open interest (OI) signals a market reset. From July to September 23, OI held around 11–15 million while the price traded in the 60–70 zone. After breaking out of the range and rising to $373.66, OI climbed to $190 million. Despite the downtrend, the price and derivative positions remained high – around 180–190 million – until mid-October, creating a risk of liquidations due to the size of traders' positions.

Since October 2, OI has decreased to $120 million as QNT fell to $225.81. This indicates not a massive buildup of new positions, but the liquidation of already open longs. Additionally, funding rates repeatedly fell below zero and reached a record low of −0.27% on October 4, before returning to neutral values. This combination suggests that traders are closing positions rather than opening new ones, weakening the case for an immediate recovery. These movements indicate an increase in aggressive short selling in futures contracts. However, funding rates cannot be used in isolation from other data to determine market direction.

If QNT fails to hold above $215, further closes could drive the price to $196 or lower. Conversely, a price increase along with expanding open interest would be a stronger confirmation of returning confidence and potential recovery.