Options are derivative contracts with a fixed expiry date that let traders bet on three things at once. They can bet on the direction of the price, on how big the swings will be and on timing, meaning by when a move will or won’t happen.
As of Friday, the bitcoin derivatives market looked like this: Options tied to U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds had about $36 billion in open interest, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for nearly $35 billion of the total. Add in options on crypto-native platforms, and the figure rises to roughly $76 billion. When bitcoin futures, including perpetual futures and dated contracts, are taken into account, the overall market reaches about $129 billion.
ETF options alone are now about 47% of the bitcoin options market, which is mainly owned by Deribit. IBIT options have tripled since January 2025, when open interest was about $11 billion.
The growth in options is consistent with the pattern seen on U.S….
