Stock derivatives have shifted from a niche product into one of the main growth engines in crypto markets in 2026, according to a report by RootData.
Based on RootData’s monitoring of major sample exchanges, cumulative stock-derivatives contract volume from January through Aug. 25 reached nearly $1.75 trillion. Monthly volume climbed from about $11.6 billion in January to above $600 billion by August.
The report said that after market attention rotated from precious metals such as gold and silver toward equities including U.S. and South Korean stocks, stock derivatives became the strongest growth area within crypto exchanges’ TradFi businesses. Using RootData’s exchange ranking framework, the report compared Binance, OKX, Bitget and Bybit across five dimensions: trading volume, open-interest retention, order-book depth, trading cost and contract coverage.
Volume jumped from tens of billions to hundreds of billions
RootData said stock-derivatives volume followed a sharp upward curve between January and August. Monthly trading volume came in at about $11.6 billion in January and rose to $73.3 billion in May.
In June, average daily volume rose 353.9% from the previous month, pushing full-month volume to $322 billion. July volume then doubled again month over month to $664.4 billion, setting another high for the year. As of Aug. 25, August volume was still holding above $600 billion.
The latest surge was tied in the report to the AI hardware trade. Starting in late June, contracts tied to SanDisk (SNDK), SK Hynix (SKHYNIX) and Micron (MU) saw concentrated volume across the market. That move coincided with a wave of stock and leveraged ETF contract listings on leading exchanges in July and August.
On a cumulative basis, total stock-derivatives volume from January to August reached about $1.75 trillion. The monthly baseline moved from less than $12 billion at the start of the year to more than $600 billion, and July alone was about 57 times January’s level.
Stock derivatives took the lead inside the TradFi segment
The report said stock derivatives moved from a supporting role to the leading product inside the broader TradFi category. At the beginning of the year, when precious metals were the main focus, stock derivatives made up less than 20% of total TradFi trading volume.
As U.S. and South Korean equities gained strength, capital shifted quickly into stock derivatives. In June, the category’s share of TradFi trading volume moved above 50% for the first time and approached 75%. In July and August, that figure exceeded 80%.
RootData cited platform disclosures to illustrate the trend. Binance previously said 47% of trading in its bStocks product took place outside regular U.S. stock market hours. Bitget said roughly one out of every three futures trades on its platform came from stock perpetuals, and weekend volume in tokenized U.S. stocks once grew 10-fold. The report said this pointed to fast-growing demand among crypto users for round-the-clock access to U.S. equity exposure.
Open-interest data also showed that popular stock names in crypto markets tracked hot assets in traditional equity markets. Storage-related names saw fast growth in capital retention. By the end of July, SK Hynix (SKHYNIX) was the first to spike, with OI peaking at $875 million. In mid-August, SpaceX (SPCX) and SanDisk (SNDK) reached OI peaks of about $910 million and $1.73 billion, respectively.
Exchange competition: Binance leads, Bitget looks the most balanced
RootData compared Binance, OKX, Bitget and Bybit using its stock-derivatives exchange ranking data.
Trading volume
From Jan. 1 to Aug. 25, Binance led with $853.58 billion in cumulative turnover, accounting for 61.3% of the total among the four exchanges. Bitget ranked second with $270.85 billion and a 19.5% share. OKX followed with $234.39 billion and 16.8%. Bybit posted $33.41 billion, or 2.4%.
The report said the competitive picture remained relatively close among the major exchanges excluding Binance, judging by cumulative and recent two-month volume trends.
Open interest
For the one-month period from July 25 to Aug. 25, Binance posted average daily open interest of $3.35 billion, equal to a 69.1% share. Bitget ranked second at $790 million and 16.3%. OKX stood at $530 million and 10.9%, while Bybit came in at $180 million and 3.7%.
Order-book depth
Measured by weighted depth within ±2%, Binance ranked first with a daily average of $10.10 million. Bitget followed at $4.82 million, about 48% of Binance’s level. OKX posted $3.87 million, and Bybit recorded $1.16 million.
Binance and Bitget together accounted for more than 70% of total liquidity among the four exchanges. RootData noted that Bitget’s depth share of 24.2% was higher than its 16.3% OI share, which the report said reflected heavier market-making input and thicker books per unit of open interest than the industry average.
Trading costs
Across more than 10 representative hot assets, Bitget ranked first on weighted spread at 0.0144%. Binance was next at 0.0145%, nearly the same level. OKX came in at 0.0154%, and Bybit lagged at 0.0237%.
The tracked names included U.S. technology stocks such as Apple (AAPL), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM), Arm (ARM) and Amazon (AMZN), as well as broad ETFs including QQQ and SPY. The sample also covered crypto-linked names such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Circle (CRCL).
RootData said Binance, OKX and Bitget had all compressed spreads to within 0.016%. At that point, exchange differentiation was showing up more clearly in depth, product breadth and user experience.
Contract listings
As of Aug. 25, Bitget led in the number of listed contracts with 298. Bybit ranked second with 206, followed by Binance with 170 and OKX with 156.
The report described Bitget and Bybit as following a faster, broad-coverage listing strategy, while Binance and OKX were more restrained.
RootData’s cross-exchange conclusion
RootData said the stock-derivatives exchange market now shows clear layering.
- Binance ranked first in turnover, average daily OI and average daily weighted depth within ±2%, making it the central liquidity venue in the segment. It did not, however, lead outright in contract breadth or weighted spreads on hot assets.
- Bitget was described as the most balanced platform overall. It ranked first in weighted spreads on hot assets, had the broadest contract coverage, and placed second in turnover, OI and depth.
- OKX ranked third in spreads on hot assets and in the three main liquidity indicators. It had the smallest contract lineup of the four and was characterized as more selective.
- Bybit ranked second in contract coverage but fourth in turnover, OI, depth and spreads. RootData said its stock-derivatives buildout remained in an expansion phase.
Competition is shifting toward balance across several metrics
In its closing section, RootData said stock derivatives in 2026 had moved from early testing to a rapid expansion phase, with cumulative volume of about $1.75 trillion from January to August.
The report said the market’s expansion is changing how exchanges compete. A single strength, whether traffic or one operating metric, is no longer enough to form a durable edge. The contest is moving away from a simple volume race toward a broader balance of trading cost, depth, product breadth and capital retention.
RootData said Binance remains the absolute center of liquidity. It also said Bitget, with the best performance in weighted spreads on hot assets, the widest contract coverage and balanced results in volume, depth and OI, has become the most complete platform across the measured dimensions. OKX was described as taking a more selective route focused on leading assets, while Bybit has continued to expand coverage.
Looking to the second half of the year, the report said platforms with broader all-around capability are more likely to capture the next leg of growth as the sector moves into a quality-focused competition phase under a higher base. In RootData’s words, the endgame in stock derivatives may not belong to any single-metric champion, but to exchanges that show no clear weakness across multiple dimensions.