IBIT options OI on Nasdaq briefly edges past Deribit’s total BTC options market
Volmex data shows onshore flow skewing longer-dated and further OTM, with a higher implied upside marker than offshore.
Open interest in Nasdaq-listed options tied to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) reached $27.61 billion on Friday, slightly above Deribit’s $26.90 billion bitcoin options open interest, based on Volmex-tracked data. The crossover is a clean snapshot of how fast regulated U.S. BTC derivatives have scaled, and it highlights meaningful differences in strikes, tenor, and implied volatility between onshore and offshore positioning.
Key Takeaways
- Nasdaq-listed IBIT options open interest hit $27.61 billion on Friday, narrowly topping Deribit’s $26.90 billion BTC options open interest, per Volmex-tracked data.
- IBIT call positioning implied a near-term IBIT/BTC-equivalent level around $109,709 versus roughly $106,000 suggested by Deribit positioning, with BTC referenced near $77,400.
- IBIT options skew longer-dated on an OI-weighted basis, with October 2026 expiries preferred versus August expiries dominating on Deribit.
- Volmex linked IBIT’s implied-volatility premium to structural put demand from ETF holders using puts as their primary hedge when shorting BTC directly is not straightforward.
IBIT Options OI Briefly Tops Deribit’s BTC Options Market
On Friday, open interest in options linked to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) trading on Nasdaq reached $27.61 billion, slightly above Deribit’s $26.90 billion bitcoin options open interest, based on data tracked by decentralized crypto volatility protocol Volmex.
For market structure, the point is not that one venue “won” a day. It is that a regulated, U.S.-listed wrapper briefly matched and exceeded the headline size of the long-dominant offshore BTC options hub. Deribit’s bitcoin options market has operated since 2016, and the comparison frames the onshore buildout as a scale story, not a niche add-on.
Open interest is a blunt but useful proxy for participation and liquidity depth. When OI concentrates onshore, it can pull more hedging and volatility trading into U.S. market hours and brokerage rails, changing where marginal price discovery happens for BTC-linked optionality.
Strike Map: $109.7K Implied on IBIT Calls vs $106K on Deribit
Volmex’s read-through of call open interest suggested the bulk of IBIT call positioning implied expectations of an IBIT level equivalent to BTC at $109,709 in the near term. That marker sat about 41% above the roughly $77,400 BTC reference price used in the comparison. Deribit’s positioning was also bullish, but pointed to a slightly lower implied level around $106,000.
The strike selection also differed in shape, not just direction. Volmex wrote: “Onshore call OI is concentrated roughly 4 percentage points further out-of-the-money than offshore, and the onshore average delta is slightly lower. This is consistent with onshore flow being dominated by retail upside speculation and systematic call overwriting programs, both of which concentrate OI in further-OTM strikes,”
Calls are the right to buy at a set price by expiry, and further out-of-the-money (OTM) calls require a larger move to pay. Lower delta is another way of saying the same thing: the options are less sensitive to spot because they sit further from current price.
Tenor Split: October 2026 on IBIT vs August on Deribit
Volmex’s tenor breakdown showed IBIT options were about two months longer-dated on an open-interest-weighted basis. October 2026 expiries were preferred in IBIT on average, while August expiries dominated on Deribit.
Volmex framed the maturity gap as a holder-base signal rather than a one-sided rush for protection or upside: “IBIT options are approximately two months longer-dated on an OI-weighted basis. The gap is roughly symmetric across puts and calls, suggesting it reflects the underlying holder base, longer-horizon ETF investors onshore versus more tactical positioning offshore, rather than asymmetric demand for protection or upside,”
That split matters because it hints at different objectives. Longer-dated OI lines up with ETF investors using options to structure exposure or monetize volatility over time, while shorter-dated dominance offshore is consistent with more tactical positioning.
Volmex also said IBIT’s implied volatility, derived from options pricing as the market’s estimate of expected moves over the next four weeks, was higher than implied volatility derived from Deribit’s BTC options. The explanation was structural: ETF holders who cannot easily short bitcoin directly tend to use put options as their primary hedge, and that persistent put demand can keep implied volatility elevated.
Signals to Watch for IBIT options open interest surpasses Deribit
The first test is persistence. If IBIT options open interest remains above Deribit’s BTC options OI across multiple daily snapshots, the crossover starts to look like a durable onshore liquidity shift rather than a single print.
The second is whether the implied upside markers move in tandem with spot. Volmex’s near-term reference points were $109,709 for IBIT call OI and about $106,000 for Deribit positioning, with BTC referenced near $77,400. If BTC moves materially, traders will want to see whether onshore stays priced for a slightly higher upside level or converges back toward offshore.
Tenor is the third signal. A rotation away from IBIT’s October 2026 preference or a change in Deribit’s August dominance would indicate rolling behavior and shifting time horizons.
Finally, watch the implied-volatility spread. Volmex’s framework implies IBIT can carry a persistent IV premium if ETF-holder put demand remains the dominant hedge channel.
How Onshore Access Changes the BTC Options Player Mix
The cleanest takeaway is that access is becoming positioning. IBIT options sit inside traditional brokerage channels, and Deribit remains a global venue with a long-established BTC options culture. Deribit executive Sidrah Fariq explicitly framed IBIT’s growth as additive, not a direct competitive threat: “I don’t see this as competition. If anything, it expands the market. As more participants get comfortable trading options via IBIT, it ultimately feeds into the broader ecosystem, and venues like Deribit benefit from increased sophistication and flow,”
The other quote is the demand-side explanation for why onshore can grow fast: “US retail can't onboard platforms like Deribit, so iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) options give 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,”
I treat the OI crossover as a market-structure milestone, not a directional signal. The threshold that matters is whether IBIT can hold comparable scale over time while keeping spreads and depth tight enough to become the default hedge venue for U.S. flows.
The real test is whether the IBIT implied-vol premium persists for the reason Volmex lays out: structural put demand from ETF holders who cannot easily short spot BTC. If that holds, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven, and it would matter because it shifts where BTC volatility gets warehoused and priced in size.
