Bitcoin options exposure tops $57 billion amid soaring institutional hedging demand
Quick Take
- Deribit is dominating in its position as the primary venue for sophisticated Bitcoin derivatives trading, with $45 billion in open interest.
- The following is excerpted from The Block’s Data and Insights newsletter.
Aggregated open interest in Bitcoin options has surged to nearly $50 billion across major cryptocurrency exchanges as of July 28, representing the notional value of all outstanding options positions on native Bitcoin contracts.
Deribit dominates this landscape with approximately $45 billion in open interest, cementing its position as the primary venue for sophisticated Bitcoin derivatives trading. This comes as great news for Coinbase, which acquired the options exchange for a record-breaking $2.9 billion back in May. The remaining $5 billion is distributed across exchanges, including OKX, Binance, and Delta Exchange Global, indicating a concentrated market structure around established platforms with reliable reporting metrics.
This figure excludes the rapidly growing Bitcoin ETF options market, where the total addressable options market extends well beyond native crypto venues. Options on BlackRock's IBIT fund alone account for an additional $7 billion in open interest. The bifurcation between traditional finance and crypto-native options creates parallel markets serving different investor bases, with ETF options appealing to institutional players seeking regulated exposure.
Combined, these markets represent over $57 billion in Bitcoin options exposure, reflecting unprecedented institutional and retail appetite for structured Bitcoin products.
The trajectory toward higher open interest appears sustainable as market participants increasingly demand sophisticated hedging and speculation tools. Options provide crucial risk management capabilities for Bitcoin miners, institutional holders, and trading firms seeking to hedge price exposure without liquidating underlying positions. Growing institutional adoption of Bitcoin as an investable asset creates natural demand for options-based hedging strategies.
On Tuesday, the SEC voted to approve options on "certain spot bitcoin ETPs" and also ones with an increase in position limits.
This is an excerpt from The Block's Data & Insights newsletter. Dig into the numbers making up the industry's most thought-provoking trends.
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