Long/Short Ratio

Glossary · Derivatives

The long/short ratio is the share of accounts (or of position size) net long versus net short in a perpetual contract, published by the exchange. A ratio of 1.5 means three longs for every two shorts. It measures how one-sided the crowd is, which is a crowding gauge and not a direction call.

"When 65% of accounts are long, the market knows exactly where the stops are — the ratio tells you whose side is about to be hunted."

Binance publishes several flavours: the global account ratio (every account with a position, counted per account), the top-trader account ratio (the top 20% by margin balance, per account) and the top-trader position ratio (the same cohort weighted by position size). They disagree often, and the disagreement is the information: when the crowd is 66% long and the top traders' positions are 52% long, the big accounts are positioned against the retail majority. Taker buy/sell volume adds the third leg — who is actually hitting the book right now.

A crowded ratio is a condition, not a timing signal: a coin can sit 65% long for days while price grinds up, paying the shorts' funding all the way. The trade the number supports is asymmetric risk management — do not add to the crowded side, and expect any dip to travel further than the chart suggests because the exits are all on one side. Our positioning board pairs the four readings and names the bias only when they agree.

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Questions

What is Long/Short Ratio in crypto trading?

The long/short ratio is the share of accounts (or of position size) net long versus net short in a perpetual contract, published by the exchange. A ratio of 1.5 means three longs for every two shorts. It measures how one-sided the crowd is, which is a crowding gauge and not a direction call.

How would a trader say it?

When 65% of accounts are long, the market knows exactly where the stops are — the ratio tells you whose side is about to be hunted.

Part of the Crypto Jargon glossary — every term, decoded the way a trader would say it.

Crypto Jargon

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