Something notable happened on Friday, indicating the accelerated institutionalization of bitcoin. market, which ordinary people have been pioneering for years.
This is because options, or hedging instruments, linked to BlackRock’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), IBIT, have grown slightly more on Nasdaq than total bitcoin options traded on offshore giant Deribit. It is particularly surprising that IBIT options has, in just two years, closed the gap with Deribit’s bitcoin options market, which has been operating since 2016.
On Friday, the dollar value of open or active IBIT options contracts on Nasdaq, the so-called open interest (OI), was $27.61 billion, slightly higher than the $26.9 billion of Deribit bitcoin options, according to data tracked by decentralized crypto volatility protocol Volmex.
This milestone indicates that the regulated, institutional-grade bitcoin investment and derivatives infrastructure in the US is no longer playing second fiddle to the offshore market. Additionally, a booming regulated market in the United States could encourage more Wall Street institutions to explore digital assets, ultimately leading to more mature price discovery.
Deribit Global Head of Business and Retail Sidrah Fariq described the IBIT increase as a net benefit for the broader crypto derivatives ecosystem.
“US retail cannot incorporate platforms like Deribit, so iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options gives them direct access to regulated leverage and options exposure. This is further supported by the current macro environment with supply chain uncertainty, energy shocks and broader geopolitical risks, which naturally drives demand for hedging and options strategies,” Fariq told CoinDesk.
What are the options?
Options are derivative contracts that give the buyer the right to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price at a later date. Think of it as paying a nominal price to reserve the right to buy or sell the property at a specific, pre-agreed price in the future. A call option gives the right to buy and represents a bullish bet, while a put option gives the right to sell.
Analysts use open interest as a measure of market size and share: the larger the open interest, the deeper and more liquid the market.
Traders use options to hedge existing positions in the spot and futures markets, speculate on price direction, and generate additional income on coin/ETF holdings.
One of the most preferred income generating strategies involving IBIT ETFs and IBIT options is the covered call strategy. It allows investors to benefit from BTC’s implied volatility by simultaneously holding the ETF and shorting IBIT call options at levels well above the current market price of the ETF.
Traders holding real BTC have been doing this through Deribit for years.
Same in size but different in shape
However, the two markets now match in scale but are positioned differently, which reveals a lot about trader sentiment in each.
According to Volmex, most of the open interest in IBIT call options points to expectations that an ETF will recover to levels equivalent to BTC trading at $109,709 in the near term. That’s about 41% higher than the current market price of $77,400.
Deribit’s options positioning is bullish but slightly measured, suggesting expectations of a rally to $106,000.
“Onshore call OI is concentrated approximately 4 percentage points more out-of-the-money than offshore, and the average onshore delta is slightly lower. This is consistent with onshore flow dominated by retail upside speculation and systematic call overwriting programs, both of which concentrate OI into new OTM attacks,” Volmex said in a report shared with CoinDesk.
ETF holders are more patient
Options have expiration dates: the time at which contracts settle, depending on where IBIT or BTC spot is trading at that time.
Analysis of activity in both markets suggests that, on average, October 2026 maturities are preferred on IBIT, while August maturities dominate on Deribit.
“IBIT options are approximately two months longer to expiration on an OI-weighted basis. The gap is roughly symmetrical between calls and puts, suggesting it reflects the underlying holder base, ETF investors with longer horizons in the country versus more tactical positioning abroad, rather than an asymmetric demand for protection or upside,” Volmex noted.
Finally, IBIT’s implied volatility (a metric that measures expected swings in the BTC-linked ETF over the next four weeks) is higher than the implied volatility derived from Deribit’s BTC options.
Volmex attributes this premium to a structural quirk: because ETF holders cannot easily sell (express a bearish view) bitcoin directly, they purchase put options as their only available hedge. This demand for put options keeps the implied volatility of the IBIT slightly elevated.
Considering all this, IBIT’s rapid rise in the options market is surprising and in many ways now appears to rival Deribit in scale. However, the two are not direct substitutes, as IBIT Options primarily caters to regulated local investors accessing bitcoin exposure through traditional brokerage channels, while Deribit remains the go-to place for global investors.
“I don’t see this as competition. If anything, it expands the market. As more participants get convenient trading options through IBIT, it ultimately feeds the broader ecosystem, and places like Deribit benefit from greater sophistication and flow,” Fariq said.
