Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) across 11 exchanges totals roughly $42.6B, with Binance (19.14%) and CME (13.88%) holding the largest shares as of May 31, 2026, according to Coinglass data.
- Deribit’s June 26 expiry carries approximately $8.5B in notional value, with max pain near $77,500, about 5.3% above the current spot price of $73,600.
- CME put OI has outpaced calls since November 2025, signaling institutional hedging persists even as Bitcoin recovers from its February 2026 lows.
Futures Open Interest Across Exchanges
Total exchange BTC futures open interest stands at roughly $42.6 billion, down sharply from the $90 billion-plus peak reached in early October 2025 when bitcoin traded a hair above $126,000.
Binance leads all venues with 141,100 BTC ($10.40 billion) in futures open interest, accounting for 19.14% of the market, coinglass.com logs show. CME Group holds second position at 102,330 BTC ($7.55 billion), or 13.88% of the total, signaling that institutional participation through regulated futures remains significant even as spot prices have pulled back.
Gate holds 65,620 BTC ($4.84 billion, 8.9%), Bybit carries 63,860 BTC ($4.71 billion, 8.66%), and MEXC shows 75,980 BTC ($5.60 billion, 10.3%). OKX sits at 44,310 BTC ($3.27 billion, 6%), while the decentralized perps exchange Hyperliquid holds 29,730 BTC ($2.19 billion, 4.03%).
24-hour OI changes worth noting:
- Bybit dropped 0.69% over 24 hours, the most of any top exchange
- BingX fell 44.18% in 24-hour OI, a significant flush
- Gate gained 2.08%, and OKX added 0.63%
The OI-to-24-hour volume ratio for Kucoin reads 9.57, the highest on the tape today, which points to relatively thin volume against its open position stack.
Bitcoin Options Open Interest
Total BTC options open interest sits near $40 billion, per Coinglass data, a steep pullback from the $65 billion-plus highs logged in late November 2025.
Calls dominate at 59.25% of total options OI, representing 248,395 BTC. Puts account for 40.75%, or 170,837 BTC. A 59/41 split favors upside positioning but is not an extreme imbalance. Twenty-four-hour volume is similarly skewed, with calls at 53.27% (9,120 BTC) against puts at 46.73% (8,000 BTC).
Top Open Interest Contracts on Deribit
The single largest open interest position on Deribit is a bet that bitcoin hits $120,000 by December 2026, with 7,089.4 BTC tied to that contract. Some predictions are aligned with this perspective. The second largest is a protective position sized for a drop to $60,000 by that same date, carrying 6,509.4 BTC, which tells you that not everyone is positioned for a year-end rally.
Two other notable positions sit closer in. Traders hold 5,769.4 BTC on a contract that pays out if bitcoin reaches $80,000 by July 31, 2026, and another 5,657.5 BTC on a contract targeting $90,000 by June 26. Both suggest a cluster of bullish bets aimed at levels well above the current spot before summer ends.
CME Options: Puts Still Running Heavy
Cryptoquant data on CME options OI stacked by position shows puts consistently outpacing calls since late November 2025, even as BTC’s price has begun recovering from its February 2026 lows near $65,000. That put-heavy posture among CME participants, who tend to be institutional hedgers and asset managers, reflects caution at current price levels rather than conviction in a near-term breakout.
CME’s stacked-by-expiration logs show near-term (1 to 2 months) contracts dominating the current structure, with very limited longer-dated OI compared to the October and November 2025 buildup period.
Max Pain: Deribit, Binance, OKX
Deribit max pain for the June 26, 2026, expiry sits near $77,500 to $78,000, with notional value for that date approaching $9 billion. The furthest-dated expiry shown, March 2027, shows max pain collapsing to roughly $70,000, which would represent a roughly 4.9% move lower from the current price.
Binance max pain for June 26 hits around $85,000, well above spot, with notional value for that date reaching approximately $757 million. The curve climbs from $74,000 near-term to a peak near $85,000 before easing back toward $77,500 for later expirations.
OKX max pain tells a different story. The curve runs relatively flat near $74,000 through June 12 before climbing to approximately $78,000 by late June 26. It then holds between $75,500 and $78,000 through late 2026, before jumping sharply to near $80,500 by March 2027, the highest of the three exchanges for far-dated max pain.
Max pain theory holds that option sellers, who represent the majority of options market makers, benefit most when the underlying asset expires at the price where the maximum number of contracts finish worthless. With BTC spot at $73,600, the majority of max pain levels across all three exchanges sit above the current price for the June 26 expiry, which some traders read as gravity pulling the price higher going into that settlement.
What Traders Are Watching
The June 26 expiry is the largest single settlement date by notional value across Deribit, Binance, and OKX. Deribit alone shows roughly $8.5 billion in notional value tied to that date. How the price behaves in the days leading up to that expiry could determine whether the bulk of open call positions expire in the money or turn to dust.
CME futures OI remains near $7.55 billion despite the broad decline in total market OI since late 2025, suggesting institutional desks have not walked away from bitcoin exposure. The put-heavy positioning on CME may reflect hedged long strategies rather than outright bearish bets.
