Dogecoin traders are rebuilding leveraged exposure even as the token remains under pressure, according to CoinDesk. DOGE traded near 7 cents in Asian morning hours Thursday, down about 3% over the previous 24 hours and nearly 70% over the past year, the outlet reported. The sharp move is in derivatives positioning. CoinDesk, citing CoinGlass data, reports that Dogecoin futures open interest has climbed to about $1.21 billion from roughly $930 million in late June. Open interest measures the value of futures contracts that remain outstanding, making it a useful gauge of how much leveraged activity is sitting in the market. The rebuild looks larger when measured in Dogecoin rather than dollars. CoinDesk reports that open interest now stands at 17.18 billion DOGE, close to the 17.78 billion DOGE seen in October 2025. At that time, Dogecoin traded near 25 cents; today, the token is near 7 cents. That creates the core tension in the setup: speculative positioning has almost returned to the prior coin-denominated level while the asset price is far lower. In dollar terms, the same amount of DOGE exposure represents much less market value than it did in October, but in market-mechanics terms it still means a large number of futures positions are open. Open interest alone does not show direction. Futures contracts have both sides, and rising open interest means more leverage is entering the market rather than proving that traders are uniformly bullish or bearish. The account ratios, however, point to a tilt toward upside bets. CoinDesk reports that on Binance, more than three accounts held long DOGE positions for every one account holding a short position. On OKX, the ratio was above five to one. The outlet notes that this does not mean three or five times as much money is betting on higher prices, but it does indicate that more accounts are choosing the bullish side while DOGE continues to slide. The risk is what happens if price weakness continues. CoinDesk notes that leveraged positions can be closed automatically when collateral runs out, and those forced closures can add selling pressure into a falling market. With long accounts outnumbering shorts on the exchanges cited, the exposed side is clear: traders betting on a rebound are carrying the pressure point if DOGE breaks lower. Who benefits: Traders already positioned long benefit if DOGE rebounds before leverage is forced out. Market participants watching derivatives data also get a clearer read on where positioning risk is building. Who's exposed: Leveraged DOGE longs are most exposed if the token continues to fall. CoinDesk’s reported account ratios suggest more accounts are on the bullish side on Binance and OKX, even though contract value is not the same as account count.