UNI · 1H · DOWNTREND

The short setup from my last read is still the active thesis — price rallied into the 7.25–7.30 zone as required, touched 7.494 on the high, but never printed a 1H close back below 7.20, so the confirmation never triggered. That setup is not stopped out and not triggered: it is still pending. Price is now at 7.33, sitting right inside the entry zone, and the daily trend is sideways — no higher-timeframe tailwind in either direction. Selling pressure on Binance was noted as easing from its yearly high, and price climbed roughly 3.9% in the 8 hours preceding this read, which is the kind of short-squeeze move that burns out fast in a downtrend. The structure from the left edge of this chart — peak near 11.40, relentless lower highs all the way to the current 7.30s — is still intact. The daily being sideways means I treat any short here as mildly counter-trend by the higher-timeframe standard, which raises my bar for confirmation. The two-step setup from my last read still captures the right entry: I need price to rally back into the zone and then close back below 7.20 on a 1H candle. That close hasn't come. I'm still waiting for it.

Funding is a mild long-side lean at 0.0100% per 8h — not extreme, but longs are paying, so any continued grind higher squeezes the short side incrementally. The dense liquidation cluster at 7.70 sits just above and acts as a magnet on any squeeze; I'm placing the invalidation beyond 7.53 rather than inside that cluster. Below, the 7.21 cluster already traded — that fuel is spent. The real downside magnet is 6.52.