Bitcoin derivatives markets are sending mixed signals on Saturday as open interest climbs back toward $30 billion while options and futures traders hold positions across all major exchanges.
Key Takeaways
- Binance leads all exchanges in BTC futures open interest with 134,620 BTC, while CME posted the strongest 24-hour gain at +6.16% on May 2.
- Deribit's 29MAY26 $80,000 call has 7,493.7 BTC in open interest, the largest single options contract across all trading platforms.
- With bitcoin at $78,418, the price sits near Deribit's max pain level of $78,000 ahead of the May 3 expiry, putting market makers in focus.
Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Rebounds as Binance, CME, and Gate Lead
According to data from Coinglass, total open interest in BTC options stands at approximately $30 billion as of May 2, 2026, with bitcoin trading at $78,418. The figure marks a recovery from lows seen in late January and February, when OI fell below $25 billion alongside a price drop that took bitcoin under $70,000.
Futures open interest tells a similar story. Exchange-level data shows Binance leading with 134,620 BTC in futures OI worth $10.55 billion, followed by CME with 117,320 BTC at $9.20 billion. Gate holds 68,860 BTC ($5.40 billion), MEXC logs 78,430 BTC ($6.15 billion), and Bybit comes in at 59,890 BTC ($4.70 billion).
CME's 24-hour OI change of +6.16% stands out from the rest of the field. Most other exchanges reported mild declines in the same window, with BingX as a notable exception, down 54.60% in 24-hour OI. KuCoin bucked the trend with a 4.32% increase.
Deribit's $80K Bitcoin Call Holds Largest Open Interest Ahead of May 3 Settlement
On the options side, calls have an edge over puts in open interest. Total call open interest is 241,222.88 BTC compared to 169,755.09 BTC for puts, yielding a call-to-put ratio of roughly 58.69% versus 41.31%. In 24-hour volume, puts have taken the lead at 53.65% against calls at 46.35%, signaling short-term hedging activity by traders.
The most actively held options bet on Deribit is a call contract granting buyers the right to purchase bitcoin at $80,000 before May 29, with 7,493.7 BTC in open positions behind it. Right behind is a December 2026 call targeting $120,000, with 6,600 BTC in OI, followed by a June 2026 call at the $90,000 strike with 6,362.7 BTC. On the bearish side, the largest put contract is a December 2026 position that pays out if bitcoin falls to $60,000, carrying 5,298.9 BTC in open interest.
CME options open interest, stacked by expiry, shows that contracts expiring in one to two months dominate the structure. A CryptoQuant chart covering mid-2025 to early May 2026 reveals a sharp contraction from peaks in November 2025, when total CME options OI approached 70,000 contracts. Current levels sit between 8,000 and 14,000 contracts per expiry cycle.
The CME distribution between puts and calls, recorded by CryptoQuant, shows that puts consistently outperformed calls in USD terms through February and March 2026 before flattening out. Call interest has begun to build again through April, though both categories remain well below late-2025 highs.
Max pain levels vary by exchange heading into the May 3 expiry. Deribit places the current max pain level near $78,000, with longer-dated expiries showing a downward curve toward $69,000 and lower for the March 2027 contract. The June 2026 expiry shows the largest nominal value on Deribit at roughly $9 billion.
Binance's max pain data shows a different curve. The May 29 expiry has a max pain level near $75,000 and the largest nominal bar, while the June 26 contract sits at roughly $75,000 in max pain as well. The September 25 expiry pushes toward $84,000 before the curve falls back.
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