Bitcoin derivatives markets are sending mixed signals on Saturday as open interest (OI) climbs back toward $30 billion, with both options and futures traders holding positions across all major exchanges. As of May 2, 2026, Bitcoin is trading at $78,418, and options data reveals a call-to-put ratio of approximately 58% to 42%, reflecting a tug-of-war between bulls and bears.
Bitcoin Futures Open Interest Rebounds, Exchange Landscape Diverges
According to Coinglass.com, total BTC options open interest stands at approximately $30 billion, recovering from lows of under $25 billion in late January and early February, when the price also fell below $70,000. In the futures market, Binance leads with 134,620 BTC ($10.55 billion) in open interest, followed by CME (117,320 BTC, $9.20 billion) and Gate (68,860 BTC, $5.40 billion). MEXC holds 78,430 BTC ($6.15 billion), and Bybit holds 59,890 BTC ($4.70 billion). Notably, CME recorded a 24-hour open interest change of +6.16%, the strongest among all exchanges, while BingX saw a sharp decline of 54.60% over the same period. KuCoin bucked the trend with a 4.32% increase.
Options Market: Calls Dominate Open Interest, but Puts Lead Volume
In the options market, total call open interest is 241,222.88 BTC, compared to put open interest of 169,755.09 BTC, yielding a call/put ratio of approximately 58.69% to 41.31%. However, in 24-hour volume, puts take the lead at 53.65% versus calls at 46.35%, suggesting short-term hedging activity by traders. The most actively held option on Deribit is the $80,000 call expiring May 29, with open interest of 7,493.7 BTC, followed by the December 2026 $120,000 call (6,600 BTC) and the June 2026 $90,000 call (6,362.7 BTC). On the downside, the largest put is the December 2026 $60,000 put position, with 5,298.9 BTC in open interest.
CME options open interest grouped by expiry shows that contracts expiring in 1–2 months dominate the structure. A CryptoQuant chart covering mid-2025 to early May 2026 indicates a sharp contraction from the November 2025 peaks (when CME options OI approached 70,000 contracts). Current levels range between 8,000 and 14,000 contracts per expiry period. The put-call split at CME, as recorded by CryptoQuant, shows puts consistently exceeded calls in dollar terms during February and March 2026 before flattening. Call interest began to recover during April, though both categories remain well below late-2025 highs.
Max Pain Levels and Whale Activity
Max pain levels vary by exchange as the May 3 expiry approaches. Deribit places the current max pain near $78,000, with the longer-term expiry curve declining toward $69,000 and below for the March 2027 contract. The June 2026 expiry shows the largest notional value on Deribit at approximately $9 billion. Binance's max pain data indicates a different curve: the May 29 expiry has a max pain level near $75,000 (the largest notional), while the June 26 expiry also sits around $75,000. The September 25 expiry rises toward $84,000 before the curve declines again. OKX's max pain for the May 3 expiry is near $65,000, one of the most bearish short-term readings among exchanges. The March 2027 contract shows a sharp increase in notional value, with the max pain level rising back toward $78,000.
With Bitcoin at $78,418, the price sits above Binance and OKX's short-term max pain levels but is effectively on top of Deribit's reading. Options traders managing their positions as expiry approaches could be a quiet force shaping price action over the weekend. Additionally, a newly created wallet withdrew 1,051 BTC (worth $82.35 million) from Binance, coinciding with $630 million in inflows into U.S. Bitcoin ETFs, signaling ongoing institutional and whale interest.