The Bitcoin derivatives market is pricing in a big move, with the leading crypto asset trading at $73,600 at 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 31st, with $40 billion in options open interest and another $40 billion in futures contracts on major exchanges.
Important points:
- Open interest (OI) in Bitcoin futures across 11 exchanges totals approximately $42.6 billion, with Binance (19.14%) and CME (13.88%) holding the largest stakes as of May 31, 2026, according to data from Coinglass.
- Deribit has a notional value of about $8.5 billion on its June 26 expiry, with the biggest pain being around $77,500, about 5.3% above the current spot price of $73,600.
- CME put OI has outperformed calls since November 2025, suggesting continued institutional hedging even as Bitcoin recovers from its February 2026 lows.
Inter-exchange futures open interest
Total exchange amount $BTC Futures open interest is around $42.6 billion, significantly down from the peak of more than $90 billion reached in early October 2025, when Bitcoin traded above $126,000.
Binance leads all venues with 141,100 $BTC According to Coinglass.com logs, futures open interest is $10.4 billion, accounting for 19.14% of the market. CME Group remains in second place with 102,330 $BTC ($7.55 billion) represents 13.88% of the total, indicating that institutional investor participation through regulated futures remains important despite the decline in spot prices.
Gate capacity 65,620 $BTC ($4.84 billion, 8.9%), Bybit holds 63,860 $BTC ($4.71 billion, 8.66%), Mexico shows 75,980 $BTC ($5.6 billion, 10.3%). OKX is ranked 44,310th $BTC ($3.27 billion, 6%) Meanwhile, decentralized PERP exchange Hyperliquid holds 29,730 $BTC ($2.19 billion, 4.03%).
Notable 24-hour OI changes:
- Bybit fell 0.69% in 24 hours, the biggest decline among the top exchanges.
- BingX was down 44.18% in 24-hour OI, a huge flush.
- Gate increased by 2.08%, OKX increased by 0.63%
Kucoin’s OI to 24-hour volume ratio is 9.57, the highest on today’s tape, indicating thin volume relative to the stack of open positions.
Bitcoin options open interest
total $BTC Open interest in options remains near $40 billion, according to Coinglass data, a significant reversal from the high of more than $65 billion reached in late November 2025.
Calls accounted for 59.25% of the total option OI, equaling 248,395. $BTC. Puts account for 40.75%, or 170,837. $BTC. The 59/41 split favors upside positions, but is not extremely imbalanced. The 24-hour call volume is similarly skewed, with 53.27% (9,120) calls. $BTC) vs. Put 46.73% (8,000 $BTC).
Deribit Top Open Interest Contract
The single largest open position on Deribit is a bet that Bitcoin will reach $120,000 by December 2026 at 7,089.4. $BTC It’s tied to that contract. Several predictions are consistent with this perspective. The second largest protective position, with a size down to $60,000 by the same day, is held at $6,509.4. $BTCwhich shows that not everyone is prepared for the year-end gathering.
Two other notable positions are even closer together. The trader holds 5,769.4. $BTC This contract pays out if Bitcoin reaches $80,000 and further reaches $5,657.5 by July 31, 2026. $BTC Both suggest that bullish bets are concentrated on levels well above the current spot before the end of the summer.
CME options: still slow
Cryptoquant data on CME options OI stacked by position shows that it has consistently outperformed calls since late November 2025. $BTCThe price has started to recover from its lows near $65,000 in February 2026. The emphasis on puts by CME participants, who tend to be institutional hedgers and asset managers, reflects caution about current price levels rather than belief in a short-term breakout.
According to the logs accumulated by CME expiration date, the current structure is dominated by short-term (1-2 month) contracts, with very limited long-term OI compared to the accumulation period of October and November 2025.
Max Payne: Deribit, Binance, OKX
will be ridiculed The maximum pane for the June 26, 2026 maturity is around $77,500 to $78,000, with a notional value approaching $9 billion on that date. The earliest expiration date shown, March 2027, shows the maximum pane to drop to around $70,000, which corresponds to a drop of around 4.9% from the current price.
Binance Maximum pain on June 26th reached approximately $85,000, significantly above spot, and the notional value for the day reached approximately $757 million. The curve rises in the short term to a peak around $74,000 to $85,000, then eases back toward $77,500 toward expiration.
OKX The greatest pain tells a different story. The curve remains relatively flat around $74,000 until June 12th, rising to about $78,000 by late June 26th. It then hovers between $75,500 and $78,000 until late 2026, before rapidly rising to nearly $80,500 by March 2027. This is the highest of the three exchanges for maximum pain in history.
Max Payne theory holds that option sellers, who represent the majority of option market makers, benefit most when the underlying asset expires at a price at which the maximum number of contracts ends worthless. and $BTC With a spot price of $73,600, most of the maximum pain levels on all three exchanges are above the current price for the June 26 expiry, which some traders are reading as gravity pushing the price higher towards settlement.
What traders are paying attention to
The June 26 expiration marks the largest single settlement date by notional amount across Deribit, Binance, and OKX. We can see that Deribit alone has a notional value associated with that date of approximately $8.5 billion. Price movement in the days leading up to its expiration could determine whether the majority of open call positions expire in-the-money or go to ashes.
Despite a significant decline in market-wide OI since late 2025, CME futures OI has remained close to $7.55 billion, suggesting that institutional desks are not exiting their Bitcoin exposure. The put-heavy positioning on CME may reflect a hedged long strategy rather than an outright bearish bet.
