The BTC options market has undergone a structural transformation in 2025–2026. Total aggregate BTC options open interest stands at approximately $65 billion, now exceeding futures OI ($60B) since July 2025. The market is dominated by two megavenues: BlackRock’s IBIT ETF options (~$33B OI, ~52% share) and Deribit (~$26B OI, ~39% share). The remaining ~9% is fragmented across CME, Bullish, OKX, Bybit, Binance, and emerging DEX protocols.
Key structural insight: The shift from crypto-native to TradFi-listed BTC options signals deep institutional adoption. IBIT options are now the 9th largest in the entire US options market with 7.7M+ active contracts, surpassing GLD (gold ETF) options. Deribit processed $743B in options notional volume in 2024 (99% YoY growth), but its dominance has eroded from >90% five years ago to ~39% today.
Complete Venue Rankings by Open Interest
| Rank | Venue | Category | Product | Est. OI | Style | Volume / Key Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1: Dominant Venues (>$10B OI) | ||||||
| #1 | IBIT (BlackRock) | TradFi ETF | Spot BTC ETF Options | ~$33B (52%) | American | 7.7M+ contracts OI; record $10B single-day (Feb 6 2026); 9th largest US option; Nasdaq ISE & CBOE listed |
| #2 | Deribit | Crypto CEX | BTC Options (inverse) | ~$26B (39%) | European | $743B notional in 2024; ~$2B+/day; 85% crypto options share; Paradigm 33–36% of vol; Coinbase acquired; LD4 colo |
| Tier 2: Significant Venues ($1B–$5B OI) | ||||||
| #3 | CME Group | TradFi Exchange | Options on BTC Futures | ~$4.5B (6%) | American | CFTC regulated; 5 BTC per contract; institutional benchmark; 24/7 planned 2026 |
| #4 | Bullish Exchange | Crypto CEX | BTC Options | ~$3–4B | European | NYSE-listed (BLSH); #2 BTC options OI among CEXs; $9B+ cumulative vol; NY DFS licensed; rapid growth |
| #5 | OKX | Crypto CEX | BTC Options | ~$3.2B | European | 21% derivatives market share; $202M BTC bilateral depth; unified margin; portfolio margin available |
| Tier 3: Emerging Venues ($100M–$1B OI) | ||||||
| #6 | Bybit | Crypto CEX | BTC Options (USDC) | ~$1.3B | European | ~$11.3B avg monthly BTC opts vol; 15% deriv market share; USDC-settled; retail friendly |
| #7 | Binance | Crypto CEX | BTC Options | ~$558M | European | 36% total deriv share but options tiny fraction; perps dominant; $536M BTC depth |
| Tier 4: Other TradFi BTC ETF Options | ||||||
| #8 | BITO (ProShares) | TradFi ETF | BTC Futures ETF Options | <$500M | American | First BTC ETF (2021); futures-based; 0.95% fees; losing share to spot ETFs |
| #9 | FBTC (Fidelity) | TradFi ETF | Spot BTC ETF Options | <$300M | American | $20.5B AUM; 0.25% fee; options thin vs IBIT; Fidelity brand institutional pull |
| #10 | GBTC (Grayscale) | TradFi ETF | Spot BTC ETF Options | <$200M | American | Legacy product; 1.50% fees; $19.6B AUM; persistent outflows to cheaper ETFs |
| #11 | ARKB / BITB / Others | TradFi ETF | Spot BTC ETF Options | <$100M ea | American | $3.5–3.6B AUM each; options available but very thin; liquidity concentrated in IBIT |
| Tier 5: Micro / Specialty CME Products | ||||||
| #12 | CME Micro BTC Options | TradFi Exchange | Options on Micro BTC Futures | <$200M | American | 0.1 BTC per contract; lower margin; same CME clearing; growing retail adoption |
| #13 | CME BTC Friday Options | TradFi Exchange | Weekly Options on BTC Futures | <$100M | American | Weekly expiry every Friday; settles to BRRNY rate; 4pm ET; short-dated event trading |
| Tier 6: Decentralised (DEX) Options Protocols | ||||||
| #14 | Derive (fka Lyra) | DEX | BTC/ETH Options + Perps | <$50M | European | $1.5B+ cumulative notional; 70%+ DEX options share; OP Stack rollup; portfolio margin; DRV token |
| #15 | Aevo (fka Opyn) | DEX | ETH Options + Perps | <$20M | European | $16B peak month (Mar 2024, incentivised); off-chain orderbook / on-chain settlement; BTC options launching |
| #16 | Paradex | DEX | Perps + Options (BTC) | <$10M | European | Starknet appchain; zero-fee perps; privacy features; $593M perp OI; options nascent |
| #17 | Hegic / Stryke / Premia / Panoptic | DEX | Various Options Models | <$15M ea | Various | Hegic: peer-to-pool AMM; Stryke: CLAMM; Panoptic: perpetual options (no expiry); niche |
Open Interest Distribution (Jan 2026)
| Venue | OI ($B) | Market Share | Share | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBIT (BlackRock) | ~$33B | ~52% | Rapidly growing | |
| Deribit | ~$26B | ~39% | Share eroding | |
| CME Group | ~$4.5B | ~6% | Steady growth | |
| Bullish | ~$3–4B | ~5% | Fastest grower | |
| OKX | ~$3.2B | ~5% | Stable | |
| Bybit | ~$1.3B | ~2% | Growing | |
| Binance | ~$558M | ~0.9% | Tepid | |
| All Other (ETFs + DEX) | <$1B | <1% | Fragmented |
Key Trading Insights
IBIT options are American-style (early exercise possible), equity-settled through OCC, and trade during US market hours on Nasdaq ISE and CBOE. Deribit options are European-style, inverse (BTC-margined), and trade 24/7. This creates basis and vol surface discrepancies that are exploitable for cross-venue arb and relative value strategies. IBIT position limits are currently 250,000 contracts with a request pending to increase to 1M.
Paradigm accounts for 33–36% of Deribit’s monthly volume. For institutional block execution, this remains the primary venue. Paradigm connects to Deribit, Bybit, OKX, and other venues for RFQ-style execution.
Bullish (NYSE: BLSH) has surged from zero to #2 CEX for BTC options OI in months, overtaking OKX, Binance, and CME. Their $9B+ cumulative options volume and $4B OI peak (Jan 2026) makes them worth monitoring for liquidity and potential connectivity via LTP.
The dominance of options OI over futures OI ($65B vs $60B) since July 2025 is structurally compressing BTC volatility. Dealers hedging IBIT options create mean-reverting flows (buying dips, selling rallies), which dampens spot volatility. This has implications for vol selling strategies and VRP harvesting.
Derive (formerly Lyra) dominates with 70%+ of DEX options share but total DEX options volume is still <1% of centralised venues. Paradex is interesting (Starknet appchain with privacy features). Not yet viable for institutional-scale trading but worth tracking for alpha in tail strategies.
CME announced plans to launch 24/7 trading for cryptocurrency futures and options in early 2026. This would eliminate the weekend gap risk that currently creates basis opportunities between CME and crypto-native venues.
Deribit’s quarterly expiries (last Friday of the month) concentrate massive OI. The Dec 26, 2025 expiry saw $23.6B in BTC options expire (>50% of total Deribit OI). These gamma-heavy events create predictable dealer hedging flows that are tradeable for market making operations.
Open interest and volume figures compiled from: Checkonchain (aggregate OI), CoinGlass (exchange-level OI breakdown), Kaiko Research (market structure analysis), CoinDesk (market reporting including Dec 2025 and Jan 2026 snapshots), Deribit Insights (exchange-specific metrics), Bullish Q4 2025 earnings release, CME Group (Q3 2025 crypto insights), and DefiLlama (DEX protocol TVL/volume). All figures are approximate and reflect the most recent available data as of early February 2026.