According to data from Coinglass, total Bitcoin options open interest (OI) has rebounded to approximately $30 billion as of May 2, 2026, with BTC trading at $78,418. This marks a recovery from late January and February lows below $25 billion, when BTC dipped under $70,000. However, the derivatives market is sending mixed signals: the options market shows bullish dominance, but futures OI and spot price action remain hesitant.
Futures OI: Binance Leads, CME Posts Largest Daily Gain
Among exchanges, Binance leads futures OI with 134,620 BTC (worth $10.55B), followed by CME with 117,320 BTC ($9.20B), Gate with 68,860 BTC ($5.40B), MEXC with 78,430 BTC ($6.15B), and Bybit with 59,890 BTC ($4.70B). Notable is CME's 24-hour OI increase of 6.16%, the highest among major exchanges. BingX saw a massive 54.60% drop, while KuCoin rose 4.32%.
Options Market: Calls Dominate OI, Puts Lead Volume
On the options side, total call OI stands at 241,222.88 BTC versus 169,755.09 BTC for puts—a ratio of 58.69% calls to 41.31% puts. However, 24-hour volume flips: puts account for 53.65% vs 46.35% calls, indicating short-term hedging activity. The largest single option contract is the Deribit 29MAY26 $80,000 call with OI of 7,493.7 BTC. Next is the December 2026 $120,000 call (6,600 BTC) and June 2026 $90,000 call (6,362.7 BTC). The top put is the December 2026 $60,000 put with 5,298.9 BTC.
CME options OI by expiry shows contracts maturing in 1-2 months dominate. CryptoQuant data reveals a sharp contraction from November 2025 peaks (~70,000 contracts) to current 8,000–14,000 per cycle. CME put/call ratio in dollar terms skewed bearish through February and March 2026 before stabilizing; call interest recovered in April but remains well below late-2025 highs.
Max Pain Divergence: Deribit at $78K, Binance and OKX Lower
Ahead of the May 3 expiry, max pain levels vary across exchanges. Deribit's current max pain is near $78,000, with longer-dated contracts sloping down to ~$69,000 for March 2027. The June 2026 expiry holds the highest notional value (~$9B). Binance's May 29 expiry max pain is ~$75,000, while September 25 rises to $84,000. OKX's May 3 max pain is only $65,000—the lowest short-term level—but the March 2027 contract rebounds to $78,000. BTC at $78,418 sits above Binance and OKX's near-term pain points but essentially at Deribit's level, suggesting option market makers could influence price over the weekend to manage their books.
Whale Withdrawal and ETF Inflows
Separately, a newly created wallet withdrew 1,051 BTC (worth $82.35M) from Binance, while US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $630 million. The combination of whale offloading and institutional buying further fuels market uncertainty.